Motivation
by hypervelocity
Summary: A young transferee with a bleak outlook on life finally gets much needed motivation from an unexpected person. Mio and Azusa with OCs
1. Chapter 1: Curiosity

Hello guys.

This is my first ever Slice of Life themed fan fiction. Always wanted to do this, but I never actually had the time.  
I probably would be committing a lot of errors and bad plot twists, so please don't hesitate to fire away your criticism.  
"What doesn't kill me, makes me better.", I suppose.

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, claim ownership to the series K-On.

* * *

Chapter 1:

* * *

The sun's rays pierced through the window on that clear Monday morning. The light lit the dark room, revealing the things scattered inside. There was a cabinet, littered with a few trophies and medals, along with a few pictures of someone holding up a trophy in a victory pose. Such things were memoirs of the past, as dust was beginning to form on them. On the opposite side of the room, there was a metal panel hanging on the wall. And on the panel, there was a long, slender bag, littered with stickers that said "Samick" and "Easton". On the floor were crumpled pieces of paper, that led to a rusty guitar stand, where an ill-maintained bass guitar sat.

A figure on the bed started to squirm about in the sea of blankets and littered articles of clothing. It wasn't too soon when an alarm clock began to ring loudly, but as quick as the alarm went off, a hand darted out of the covers and pounded the clock. It was another start for a week for Keima.

It was only a few weeks since he transferred to a new school, finally settling down after years of constant traveling with his family. He decided to stay there on his own, as not to disturb the family business. He was supposed to be graduating the year before, but his constant travels often made him repeat a year. It was only a week since he moved into his apartment, but it looked like somebody's been there for a month without cleaning. Boys will be boys, after all.

Keima came in late for class, but he got off the hook with the excuse "I had a hard time with directions." He was a transferee, after all. Class went by, but he didn't really pay attention to it. By the end of the day, he went to the school's roof to pass time. This was the usual routine for him in his past schools. He never bothered to make any connections, since he was used to seeing unfamiliar faces all the time.

This changed on that day, however.

As he was going down the stairs, he heard a commotion from a nearby door. The sound of a Bass guitar was very familiar to him. Out of curiosity, he approached the door carefully and pushed a little bit, just enough for him to see what or who was inside. He wasn't in a hurry, anyway, so why not check it out?

There she was. A girl stood there on the other side of the room, with her long black hair draped on her shoulders. She didn't seem to notice him as she continued on practicing. Her smile shined with the sparkle of the setting sun as the sunlight shone on her from the windows. For a moment there, Keima's mind spaced out. He went blank.

It wasn't too soon until the girl noticed him though. And when she did, she jumped up in surprise.

Keima snapped back into reality as he noticed the girl, now blushing, was looking directly at him. His worst fear was to be marked as a stalker, for he did look like a stalker at that moment. And he didn't want that as her first impression of him.

"I'm so sorry!" He said in a shaky voice as he bowed down in apology to the girl, before hurriedly making his way out of the room and towards home, bumping a couple of students on the way down the stairs.

The girl watched on in confusion as the boy disappeared. Meanwhile, a girl with long, blonde hair entered the room, seemingly having met the boy on his way out. "Who was that, Mio chan?"

"I don't know." Mio said as the stared at where the boy stood earlier.

"Hoho. It seems Mio has a stalker!" A short haired girl added, as she entered the room.

"Eh?" Mio said in a surprised tone as the other girls laughed at her reaction.

* * *

Keima stared into the ceiling as he lay in bed. "Who was that girl?" He thought as he spaced out. After a few moments of pondering, he looked to his side and glanced at his old bass guitar. His gaze scanned its dirty bridge and its strings, now worn out from years of no maintenance. Letting out a sigh, Keima went to his cabinet and pulled out a few pieces of cloth and pulled a chair beside the guitar. "Looks like I'll be using you again." He said with a faint smile as he began to clean the guitar.

Then and there, life became a little less boring for Keima

* * *

In the next chapter:  
Keima embarks on a quest to learn more about the girl he saw. One thing leads to another, then he finally gets the chance to talk to Mio.


	2. Chapter 2: Introductions

Hello again guys,

Finally, the rains have stopped, and the sun's starting to come out here.

I'm not really sure what to make of this chapter, since I wrote most of it half-asleep, half-drunk. One of my neighborhood friends had a birthday party, and somebody's been adding too much alcohol to the punch.

Anyway, let me assure you that alcohol and drowsiness wasn't the main inspiration for this chapter.

Just see for yourself. :P

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, claim ownership to the series K-On.

* * *

Chapter 2:

* * *

The sun's light was piercing through the blinds of Keima's window again. Everything was the same, the same messy sea of blankets and clothes, the same dusty cabinet filled with memoirs, the same bag filled with stickers of some brand of unknown stuff. But of all those things, one object stood out inside the room. The light shone on the bass guitar, and as if following a script in a movie, and the guitar glistened in a metallic blue hue. Its strings were removed, but the body, the bridge and the fretboard were cleaned and polished to perfection, making the guitar look as if it was new.

The clock began to scream again as it was time for Keima to wake up again. As quickly as it rang, a hand darted to silence the annoying clock. This time, though, it did not come from under the covers.

Keima flipped the alarm switch on the clock as he glanced at the mirror to fix his necktie. He woke up earlier than usual, and found the unusual drive to get ready for school. As a result, he was already leaving for school one hour before the start of classes. Seeing that he was too early, he decided to buy something to eat for breakfast. Not that he was hungry - he doesn't usually eat a heavy breakfast, but he had to do something to pass time.

He approached one of the bread shops a few blocks from the school, and glanced at the merchandise for sale. There were a lot of bread there - there were the normal, decent looking ones that actually resembled bread, then there were...the odd ones.

"These are really famous at your school, you know." The shopkeeper said to Keima as he noticed him staring into the odd bunch of bread. "Especially the girls, 80 percent of my profits from these bread come from them." Keima raised his eyebrow as he heard those words. Who would want to eat some piece of weird bread, anyway? It seemed that making the bread was hard, and simply eating them wouldn't justify the amount of work given to making the bread.

As the boy continue on thinking about his bread theories, a familiar girl stepped beside him to buy some bread.

"Ah! Mio-chan!" The shopkeeper said with a smile as the girl approached the stand. The boy turned around to glance at whoever this "Mio-chan" was, only to be frozen solid upon seeing the girl.

"Good morning Yuzu-san" She said with a smile as she approached the stall. Her hair had a sweet scent, and Keima was now all too familiar to this, as this was one smell he would burn into his mind. The shopkeeper glanced at the boy and knew what all his fuss was about.

"The usual?" the shopkeeper, apparently named Yuzu, said as she pulled out one of those paper bags to take Mio's order. The girl nodded, and Yuzu began to pick out a few pieces of bread from the strange side of the bread spectrum of the shop. "Here you go." Yuzu said cheerfully as Mio handed her a few coins for the bread. All the while, Keima was silent and tried his best to stay incognito. Mio saw him, after all, and what would she think if she saw him there? She would probably think he was stalking her again.

"Thank you." Mio said with a bow as she turned to leave for school. Keima glanced at her as she left for the school's gates. He spaced out for a while before Yuzu, who have seemed to notice his ogling, rolled up a few sheets of newspapers and swat him in the face.

"Her name's Mio Akiyama, for your information." The shopkeeper said with a sly smile. Keima gulped as he finally heard the girl's name. "M-Mio chan?" He then stopped as he shook his head. "I mean, Akiyama san. It would be very disrespectful for me to say her first name without me being-" Keima stopped in mid sentence as Yuzu slapped his face again with the newspaper.

"Hey! What's your problem? You seem to be having fun swat-" But another slap from the newspaper silenced the now blushing boy.

"You like her, don't you?" Yuzu said as she pulled out a paper bag and got a few pieces of bread. "Then you'd better make your move quick. She's famous, and who knows? She might already have a boyfriend."

Keima softened up as Yuzu handed him the paper bag. "Here. Its on the house. For providing my morning with much needed entertainment." Keima took the bag and glanced at the shopkeeper. "Are you sure? I can't-"

Keima's sentence was again cut off by Yuzu's newspaper. "You'd better hurry, boy. You don't want to be late, don't you?" She said with a nagging smile, as if implying something else.

Keima backed off as he glanced at his watch. She was right, he was late. "O shi-" He whispered under his breath. Giving one last gesture of respect, Keima bowed before Yuzu and said his thanks as he ran off to the school.

"Ah, the youth these days." Yuzu said with a smile as he watched Keima vanish into the corner.

* * *

The rest of the day really flew by for Keima. A few quizzes here and there, boring lectures, and the only part of the day that Keima really gave his attention was PE class. Classes ended as fast as it had started for him, and in a flash, the day was already over. After his usual routine of hanging out at the rooftops, Keima began to descend down the stairs when he stopped by to see the door where he saw Mio yesterday. He paused for a few seconds before he slapped his face and continued downstairs.

The sun was already setting when Keima entered the music shop, a few blocks away from his house. He was trying to resurrect his old bass the night before, and the guitar was a-OK, except for the strings, which has began to rust and corrode. Lucky for him, the corrosion hasn't damaged the fretboard yet, so changing the strings would suffice for now. He walked around the shop and took a set of new strings and a tuner, and was about to head to the counter when he caught sight of a rack that displayed a few guitar straps, making him remember that he needed to replace his straps too. He approached the rack and reached for one strap that he had his eye on.

Strangely enough, his hand bumped into someone else's hand. Apparently, someone who was also interested in the same strap. Keima turned to see who it was, and was shocked to see Mio there beside him.

"Eh." Was all that Keima was able to say when Mio looked at him eye to eye. It took him a few seconds before he could speak properly to her.

"Y-You can have it if you want." Keima said in an odd voice. "I don't really..."

"No, its alright. You reached for it first, and.." Mio said as she shyly looked away.

The two glanced at each other one more time before breaking out in laughter. Keima was glad she was able to laugh after that awkward moment. It would really suck for him if it continued to be awkward.

"Hi, I'm Keima. Keima Hagane." Keima said in a more relaxed voice.

"I'm Mio. Mio Akiyama." The girl said with a bow. "Pleased to meet you." Her faint smile was imprinted into Keima's mind. There's no way he'd be forgetting that in a long time.

"S-so, I'd better be going. Haha." Keima said as he began to panic again, with the tension very obvious in his voice.. "See you around." He gave Mio an obligatory bow as he rushed to pay for his strings and out into the streets.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." He whispered to himself as he ran through the streets.

* * *

"Mio Akiyama." Keima said to himself.

Keima was hanging out in front of his house, staring out into the night sky. His house was a few blocks away from an intersection, and his house had a good view of the clear evening sky. He was supposed to be doing something else, but he was too bored to do it right away. Leaning over the low wall that bordered the house, he started to hum to the tone of a certain song he's been hearing on the radio lately. Unmindful of the time, his humming continued on to become singing as he spaced out, gazing into the stars. While still thinking of a certain someone. There was something about her that he just couldn't get off his mind. She was beautiful, that was a fact. She's musically talented. She seemed perfect.

"I know that song." He heard a voice come from the road. He looked down to see Mio across the street. "I like it." She said with smile.

"Eh. Really?" Keima said as his face strangely started to brighten up. He finally had his chance to talk to her. Does she remember him? Who knows?

"Good night, Keima-kun." Mio cheerfully said as she continued down the street, probably on her way home.

"Y-Yeah." Keima stammered as he nodded at the girl. He sighed as he watched as Mio disappear into the distance.

"Keima-kun." He said to himself as he went back inside the house with a smile plastered to his place.

For the remainder of the night, he continued on singing the same song he was humming that evening.

* * *

In the Next Chapter:

Who is this Keima-kun? Mio's other band members are intrigued by their bassist's acquaintance.

Mio's in danger! Will Keima get to her in time?


	3. Chapter 3: An unexpected meeting

Hello once again, guys,

I've had some trouble thinking about how this chapter would turn out, since most of my ideas were too non-realistic and too wierd to fit in the slice-of-life genre. These ideas involved zombies. Can't help it. Just watched the first episode of the Walking Dead, and I got stuck.

Also, to those who read this, thanks for giving me the time of day. Reviews are very much welcome.

Anyway, here's Chapter 3. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 3:

* * *

It was the middle of the week, and for most students in school, this meant that friday was within reach. That also meant, for most students, that this was the huge bump of the week - something big they had to get over before the weekend. This was true for Keima. He hates Wednesdays as much as Fridays, but he woke up earlier than usual and left the house ususually early as well. That didn't happen on mondays or mondays. Well, that today was a wednesday didn't really matter to him now. And it was all thanks to a special person.

"Mio Akiyama?" Yuzu glanced at Keima with a strange look.

She, too, woke up earlier than usual, making it so that she didn't wasted her already wasted sleeping time, she decided to open up shop. A few minutes into opening the bread stall, he noticed a familiar boy making his way towards the bread shop. No boy of his age would go this early just for bread. He had to be here for... somthing else.

"Yeah. Could you possibly tell me more about her?" Keima said as he pinched off a small portion of his bread to eat. This was pathetic, he though to himself. Now he already feels like a stalker. If he had to know something, he should have just asked the girl himself. But nothing's wrong with a little reconnaisance, right?

"Are you a stalker?" The shopkeeper said as she gave the boy a piercing look. The question almost made Keima choke on what he was eating.

"I am NOT." He objected after he coughed to clear his throat. "I just wanted to know a little bit more about her, you know."

"Sheesh. Unless you have enough balls to talk to her, it doesn't matter how much you know about the girl." Yuzu said firmly as she began placing more trays of freshly baked bread out for display.

She had a point. Keima let out a sigh as decided that it was pointless to snoop around. He had to man up and ask her himself.

"I heard she was in a band." Those words made Keima stop in his tracks.

"I think it was your school's light music club." Yuzu said as she went back from the shop's inner rooms to bring out more bread. "She's shy, but she's really kindhearted. At least, that's what the other students say." Yuzu said as she scratched her nose.

Keima glanced back at Yuzu as she gave him a sly look. "That's all I have for you. Go find out the rest for yourself." The shopkeeper disappeared once again into the bakery.

Keima stared off into space. "The light music club, eh?" He thought to himself as he said his thanks to Yuzu on his way out of the shop.

* * *

Later, after class, there was quite a commotion in the Music room. One would have never thought that such noise would be coming from a small group of five. The noisiest of the group being a girl, all red from embarassment.

"I saw Mio-chan with her boyfriend yesterday!" Yui said, out of the blue, while the club was having their afternoon tea.

"Eh? Its not like that!" Mio said as she blushed from her bandmates' teasing.

"Oh? Then who was he?" Ritsu poked Mio with her spoon. "Your brother then?" Ritsu had a knack at teasing Mio. It was almost second nature to her, with her knowing all Mio's weak spots.

"Come on, tell us!" Yui said as she banged her hands on the table.

"Good for you, Mio-chan. I wish I had a suitor too." Mugi said as she poured tea in each of their cups. It seems Mio was put on the spotlight, after Yui saw her and Keima the night before at the music shop.

"But wasn't he the same guy that was watching you practice?" Ritsu said as she leaned back on her chair. "Maybe he really was stalking you!"

"He wasn't stalking!" Mio screamed as she drove her fist into Ritsu's face. It was surprisingly strong, enough to push back the drummer's seat back a few feet.

"He's not like that..." She added as she remembered the words that Yuzu-san said to her.

_"Hoho. That boy? He never said his name. But I heard that he had his eyes on someone in the school."_

"Then why are you do defensive?" Ristu said as she dragged herself back to the table, with a huge bump on her forehead.

Mio didn't reply as another girl stood by on the other side of the room.

"Hey, aren't we supposed to be practicing?" Asuza said as she was checking the tune of her guitar. Come to think of it, its been a while since the club had any serious practice.

"We'll pratice after tea, Azu-nyan!" Yui said cheerfully as she munched on some muffins Mugi brought.

"That's the same thing you said yesterday!" The black haired girl said in a frustrated voice.

The group continued on exchanging stories and small talk, except for Mio who was silent all that time.

* * *

"Ah. Screw this. I can't stand the smell." Keima said, taking off his face mask as he left the chemistry room. His group was given extra work that afternoon, becase their experiment didn't produce the expected results. They couldn't be blamed, though. The stench of the chemical mixture that they created, which was only supposed to be a weak acid, was very much pungent.

"I leave this in your capable hands, gentlemen." Keima said with a cheerful smile to his two groupmates as he took off his laboratory gown. He didn't bother to finish the task - he decided to give up on it. The other two, demoralized with the surrender of their groupmate, decided to call it quits as well. Because of this, they decided to dump the chemical mixture they created in the sink, pretty much the same way the other groups did earlier. The other boy left too, leaving only one person to deal with cleaning up their mess.

As he dumped the flasks of mysterious liquids on the sink, the boy handling the chemicals suddenly spaced out, and dropped the flask onto the table, breaking the entire flask. Alarmed, the boy hurriedly ran off outside to get a mop, making sure no one was able to see him. By the time he got back, the chemicals had already dripped to the floor, contaminating the entire table. Panicked, the boy cleaned the table and the floor real quick, and made it look that the accident never happened. After checking the room, the boy hurriedly left.

But he didn't seem to notice the electric socket beside the table, and how soaked it was.

Keima tucked away his laboratory gear in his locker and loafed around campus a little bit. He wasn't doing anything important anyway, so why rush getting home?

* * *

"Looks like we didn't get to practice after all." Asuza said as she blankly sat there on the music room's couch. She was itching to play her guitar. They were the light music club, after all. And what they were doing these past few days wasn't related to music. At all.

Yui was beginning to pack up her stuff to get home. "Its getting late, we should probably get home." The guitarist yawned as she stretched out her arms, as if exhausted, although all she did that afternoon was eat the treats that Mugi brought.

"Lets go out for crepes!" Ritsu exclaimed with matching pose, as if leading the entire club with her craving for crepes. This enthusiasm was met with a smack to the face as Mio reminded her of her academic duties. "We have a quiz tomorrow, remember? This is no time to be slacking off."

"But it won't hurt to just eat crepes, right?" Yui added as she stared at Mio with puppy dog eyes. The bassist sighed and picked up her bag. "You're always eating."

"Oh, Mio-chan," Mugi said as she turned to her keyboard. "I think something's broken with my keyboard's power cord."  
The group gathered around the instrument and watched as it repeatedly turned on and off, as if the electricity was fluctuating.

"Hmm." Ritsu said as she put her hand to her chin in a gesture of thought. "It looks like... your keyboard is haunted." The drummer said in a grim voice. Mugi laughed as Ritsu's reply. "What? There's no way that would happen, right Mio-"

But as she turned to the bassist, she was already tucked away in the corner. "I can't see, I can't hear, I can't see, I can't hear." She said in a low voice, trying to ignore anything else that she would hear from that conversation.

"Relax! Its just the extension cord!" Ritsu smiled as she held in her hand the extension power cord that Mugi was using. It looked quite old, as the plug head itself was already worn out. "Lets just get a new one downstairs later. I heard they keep the stockroom open for these situations." Yui stared at the cord, as if only seeing it that time. "But don't we need the teacher's permission to do that first?" Mugi said as she examined the cord too. "No need! We can just tell our dear Adviser about this tomorrow!" The drummer said with a triumphant smile on her face.

"Now then, who's going to go?" The others stumbled on the floor as soon as Ritsu said those words. "Acting big, then placing the workload on someone else..." Mio blurted as she took the chord. "...I'll do it."

"But Mio, they said the stockroom is haunted" Ritsu whispered into her ear before a blow slammed the drummer to the wall.

"In that case, I'll go with Mio-chan!" Yui cheerfully said as she picked up her bag. With a few more small talk, the club meeting for that afternoon was adjourned.

* * *

Mio and Yui said their goodbyes to the other members of the band as they reached the first floor of the school. The two made their way to the laboratory rooms, where the stockrooms were also located. "Here, this room's not locked." Mio said as she pulled the sliding door and walked towards the other end of the room. Seeing the storage room, Mio tugged hard on the door, as it seemed to be stuck. "Its stuck." "I'll help!" Yui grabbed on to the knob with Mio as they pulled hard, and the door finally gave, revealing a dark room filled with shelves of unorganized spare bulbs and other materials. "Don't they clean this room frequently?" Mio complained as she coughed from all the dirt Yui and Mio tried hard not to inhale any of the dust that was inside as they ventured into the room.

Meanwhile, out on a nearby table, a certain familiar socket started to short circuit, sending sparks onto the floor. After a few more moments, the remnants of the mixture began to catch fire, setting the entire table on fire.

"Here we go!" Mio held in her hand a new extension cord, still in its packaging. "So, do we leave this-"

Mio's sentence was interrupted by a sudden loud bang, along with the trembling of the ground. Panicked, Yui turned to Mio. "Lets go!" Maybe somebody saw them enter the room, and probably has reported them. "I knew this was a bad idea!" The bassist cringed as she thought of her perfect record at school.

It seems that the fire has already spread to the gas lines where the burners were supposed to be connected. The earlier noise must have come from the jars of mixtures that the other classes kept for the next meetings. As they exited the storage room, they were greeted by another explosion.

The explosion sent Yui stumbling to the floor. She looked around in horror as she saw the entire room going ablaze. "Hurry, Mio! We have to get away!" She screamed to her friend, but as she looked back at her, she was pinned to the floor by one of the shelves, probably toppled over by the earlier explosion. "Yui, help!"

Frantic, Yui rushed to her and tried to lift the frame that held Mio's legs. "Its too heavy!" The guitarist screamed in frustration. Grimacing in pain, Mio looked to Yui. "Yui, you have to get help!"

Scared, and not sure of what to do, Yui screamed at her with a worried face. "I'M NOT LEAVING YOU BEHIND!"

"There's nothing you can do here!" Mio replied as she tried her best to stay calm. "GO!"

Yui reluctantly stood up and ran through the small gap between the fires to find someone - anyone that could help.

Mio started to cough as the fumes started to fill the room.

"Hurry.."

* * *

Keima was startled by the bang he heard. He sat up and looked around the field to see if there was anyone. There was no one. "Must've been my imagination." He said as he sighed and began to lie down again. But before his head could touch the ground, he heard another bang. "What the hell?"

"That's a bit too early for fireworks." He said to himself as he walked back to the school's lobby, seemingly the source of the noise, to see what the commotion is about. Then, he was surprised to see a short haired girl run out of one of the halls, and she seems to be frantic.

Seeing Keima, Yui ran towards him and grabbed him by his arms. "Stalker san! Mio-chan, she's-"

The boy, ignoring the girl's connotation for him, froze as he began to smell the scent of smoke that came from the girl, and from the hall. "She's trapped in the burning chemistry room! W-We..We have.." Those words were already enough to tell Keima what he had to do.

"Call for help, I'll go get her!" Keima said in a firm voice as he rushed towards the hall. How big was the fire? Was there any way out? The boy ignored those questions, and focused only on one. "Is Mio safe?"

Keima stopped by the laboratory door to see the extensive damage that the fire has already done. Taking one deep breath, he plunged himself into the room and into the smoke. "Mio!" He screamed, hoping that she still had the consciousness to hear and reply. "Mio, where are you!" He glanced around frantically, trying to find the girl until it was too late.

A few feet from Keima, Mio was barely conscious. She looked out to where she was hearing someone calling her name. "Keima...kun?" She saw a figure shrouded by smoke began to move about the room.

"Mio!" The boy continued to scream as tears began to form in his eyes. He was suddenly struck with panic, as he glanced around to look for the girl. He had to save her. He wouldn't forgive himself if he couldn't. The smoke was beginning to get thicker. Any longer and the two wouldn't be able to breathe.

"Keima-kun!" Mio shouted with all her might. Her legs were beginning to get numb. The frame of the shelf began to absorb the heat of the fire too. She knew that they had to find each other, or face death together.

Keima caught sight of a door's silhouette in the smoke, and rushed towards it. Entering the hallway, he glanced at the girl he was looking for. Rushing to her side, he dug his hands into the perforated frame of the shelf. "As soon as I lift the shelf, move your legs, alright?" Keima blurted as he tried his best to speak properly, amidst the smoke. Keima pushed with his arms, but the shelf wouldn't budge. "Dammit!" Keima said as he gasped for air. The metal frame of the shelf was starting to be unbearably hot.

"W-We're going to die aren't we?" Mio said in a trembling voice as she began to cry. Keima clenched his teeth as he listened to her sob. "No." He said with a firm voice. Mio froze and looked up to him.

"Don't give up so easily!" Keima shouted out loud as he lifted the shelf with all his might. The effort made the shelf budge, lifting it a few inches, just enough for Mio's legs to be free.

Breathing heavily, Keima began to choke on the smoke. "Crap." He glanced outside to see the fire now bigger than it was earlier. He turned to Mio and grabbed her hand. "Come on, lets go!"

By this time, the fire had already spread to the adjacent rooms in the first floor. The floors, the walls and the ceiling was already on fire, and the smoke was unbearable for someone standing up.

Keima scanned the room frantically for any possible exits. The door from where he came in was a no-no, since it only led to a burning hallway. Out of options, he glanced at the window. "Mio, grab on to me as tight as you can."

"Eh?" Mio turned beet red as he said those words. "Just do it! It's nothing malicious!" Keima said in an alarmed voice as he began to blush himself. But before she could give him permission, he carried her on his arms and took a deep breath as he knelt.

"God, I hope this works." These were the words that shocked Mio. "WHAT? What do you mean-"

But before she could even finish, Keima put all his power into his legs and ran at full strength to the windows. Seeing he was already near the glass, he turned so that his back would be hitting the glass. As he gave the floor one final push, he braced himself for the impact.

Mio kept her eyes closed and squealed as the pair went through the window as the glass shattered into pieces. It was a fairly high fall, as the laboratory was raised a little bit higher than the other rooms.

Keima lay on the grass a few feet outside the window as Mio was still clinging to him. Opening one eye, Mio glanced at her savior. "Keima..." She said in a concerned tone. He went through all that to rescue her, and almost got killed himself. Now she was worried if he was alright.

"Hey, are you..." Her question was met with no answer.

"Keima-kun, wake up. Keima!" Tears were welling in her eyes as she pounded on Keima, hoping he would answer back. Or at least, just open his eyes.

"Akiyama..." Keima said slowly in a tired tone. Mio's face started to brighten up.

That was until she heard the next two words.

"...you're heavy." He said weakly as he opened his eyes to look at Mio.

Her face was the last thing he saw before he got knocked unconscious, though it was her fist that he last felt before he did.

* * *

In the Next Chapter:  
As the smoke clears from the accident, the hero Keima is put in front of the spotlight. Also, the Light Music Club finally gets to meet Mio's Stalker! Will he be able to keep his cool?


	4. Chapter 4: A good night indeed

Hello guys,

Here's Chapter 4. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, claim ownership to the series K-On!

* * *

Chapter 4:

* * *

Keima stared at the ceiling as he began to wake up. He glanced to his side and saw an IV drip attached to his arm. Sitting up, he found it hard to focus - a result of his head-splitting headache.

"Oh. You're finally up!" Keima fixed his gaze on the source of the voice, a girl with long blonde hair.

"Eh?" Keima murmured, trying to connect what was happening right now and what he remembers.

Then, the memory of the accident returned to him. The fire, saving Mio, and his action hero-esque exit through the windows. Suddenly realizing this, he turned to the girl. "Where's-"

"She's alright." Mugi said in a relaxed tone as she sliced a few bits of apples on her lap. "Yui managed to find you both when you lost consciousness." She smiled as she handed him a small platter of the apples. "Here."

"Uh.. Thanks." The boy started to nibble on the apples as he stared off into the distance. "Pardon me, but.. who are you? And where am I?"

"Oh. You can call me Mugi. I'm a friend of Mio." She said as she placed the rest of the apples on a nearby table. "And you're at the hospital." Keima looked again to the ceiling to think about the chain of events. He never remembered how he got there, all he remembered was commenting something about Mio's weight, then he went blank.

"We're back!" A familiar cheerful voice came from the room's door. Keima turned to see Yui and Asuza come in with a few boxes of food. "Ah! Stalker-san's awake!" Yui then rushed towards the bed.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that." Keima said in a flat tone a he let out a sigh. Looks like he was already tagged as a stalker. Following the two, Ritsu entered the door with a few pieces of paper. "It seems you had a concussion, Stalker-san." It appears she was the one running around doing the paperwork for him in the hospital. But someone was missing, and as he looked around the room to find her. Ritsu sighed. "Mio, you can come in now. He's alright."

Mio entered the room and directly approached Keima's bed. She wasn't hurt that bad, except for a few bruises on her legs, and a few scratches. Keima looked at her and smile. "Hey."

His greeting was quickly met with a quick slap to the face. The entire room was shocked at the sudden turn of events.

"Idiot!" She screamed as she looked down. "Did you know how high that window was? You almost got yourself killed! I.. I.."

She clenched her fists as she began to sob."I..was scared! I thought.. that you would never wake up.."

Keima watched as a tear rolled down her cheek. He lifted his right hand and reached for Mio, brushing away the tear.

"Hey, I'm still alive, aren't I?" He said jokingly.

By this time, the others have silently backed away from the two and huddled in the corner. Ritsu, having a sly smile on her face, raised her camera and took a shot of the couple.

"Aww. How touching!" Yui screamed out, breaking the mood of the room.

"The power of love!~" Ritsu added, as the two began to get conscious of their predicament.

Mio quickly stepped back and started to blush. "Eh? No, its not like that!"

The room was filled with much laughter as the girls continued to pick on Mio. Keima just sat there with a spaced out look on his face.

* * *

The room seemed to have settled down as the girls sat beside Keima's bed, and was having their usual tea time.

"Wait. Don't we have school right now?" Keima said as he drank tea from his cup.

"The fire spread throughout the entire first floor, so the school decided to suspend classes until the building was safe." Mugi said as she poured tea for the other girls.

"I see." He replied as he stared at the ceiling. He rummaged through his mind about something to talk about with the girls. He never had any experience talking with girls, except for his sister - and she was boyish so that doesn't really count.

"So do you play any instruments?" Yui enthusiastically said as she remembered seeing him in the music store.

"Yeah, you were looking around for straps that time we met at the shop." The bassist looked at him, and was excited to hear what instrument he played.

"Eh? Well. I used to play bass. But that was a few years ago. Haha." Keima said as he laughed.

"Bass? That's awesome!" Ritsu said as she poked Mio with her fork. "You really are a perfect match!" This was quickly dealt with a chop to the neck and a flat "No." from Mio.

"If that's the case, then would you be interested in joining the Light Music Club?" Yui said with a sparkle in her eye. Every member counts, she thought. It was about time they got another member, and their first male member too.

"I don't think you'l need me." Keima said in an effort to be humble. "Besides, you already have Akiyama-san as your bassist, I don't want to butt in like that."

"But you can offer technical advice instead!" Yui pressed on. "You don't need to be playing to be in the club!" The drummer added. "It would be a refreshing change to get our first male member too." Mugi said as she glanced at Asuza, trying to get her to agree as well. "R-Right!" The younger member of the club murmured.

"Besides, Mio would perform better if you were there!" Ritsu said as she help up her hand. Mio jumped as she heard those words. "Eh?" Ritsu then squinted her eyes as she continued. "Plus, you'd get to see her perform in cute costumes up-close and personal." But before she can say anything more, she was already pinned to the wall from the force of Mio's punch.

"I don't know..." Keima said. "..would it be alright to everyone?" He said as he looked at the members of the club. A little extra time was all he needed for club activities, and he had a lot of that.

"Well... what do you think, Mio?" Mugi said as everybody turned their gaze at her. She was the only one in the club who hasn't said her stand with Keima's membership.

Mio looked away timidly. "Its okay, I guess..."

"Alright! Welcome to our club stalker-san!" Yui said as she jumped on Keima's bed, trying to give him a welcome hug, to which Keima awkwardly was trying to refuse.

"Hey! You're sitting on my IV!"

"Uhh.. Is this supposed to come off, stalker san?"

"Kyaa! Keima's blood is spilling onto the bed!"

"Oh God. This is MY blood?"

"I can't see, I can't hear! I can't see, I can't hear!"

"Lets get a bit of the blood to scare Mio!"

"What the hell, don't play around with my blood! What's wrong with you?"

"Call the nurse!"

* * *

Later that night, the girls bid their farewells to the boy as they headed off for home - to the relief of the boy. Keima was now able to walk around, and he had his IV taken off now. He was awaiting his release papers as loafed around his room. With nothing to do, He lay down on the bed.

"Light Music Club, huh?" He said under his breath as there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Enter." Keima said as he sat up to see who it was.

"Hi." Mio entered the room and went towards Keima.

"Hello." Keima said as he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"So.. do you have anyone to accompany you going home?" She said as she kept her hands behind her.

"I-I don't think I have. Its alright, anyway. I'm used to living alone." Keima was trying his best to not blush or do anything awkward.

"Alright then... I'll go with you." She said with a smile.

"Eh? You sure about that?" Keima said in shock. This was his chance.

"Your house is on the way to mine, so.. I don't mind." She turned her head to the side and glanced at Keima, who was almost petrified with realizing what was happening.

"Besides, you might do something stupid again. Like what you did." She said as she giggled.

"Eh? What do you mean by that?" Keima said as he watched the girl laugh.

* * *

The papers were released soon enough, and Keima was released. Strangely, someone has already paid for the hospital bills. Not to mention, the ward Keima was in was a very costly private room. He almost fainted upon seeing the rate of the room. It was still a mystery to him who paid for the room. Leaving the mystery unsolved, Keima decided to head home as it was getting late.

As the two walked along the road, Keima began to hum a tone unconsciously. Mio glanced at him as he seemed to mind his own business. Knowing the song, she began to sing along to Keima's humming.

Keima paused as he heard her singing, making Mio stop as well. "What's wrong?" She looked at him, wondering why he stopped.

The boy cleared his throat. "Nothing, really." Keima smiled as he continued on humming.

"Idiot." Mio laughed as she went closer to Keima as they continued walking.

The two finally reached Keima's house after a few more minutes of walking. Neither realized that they were walking for 30 minutes already.

"You sure you'll walk home alone?" Keima said as he scratched his cheek. "It might be dangerous now."

"No need, Keima-kun. I'll be fine." She said as she poked him with her finger. "You, however, need to rest."

The girl stepped back as Keima leaned on his gate. "Good night, Keima-kun." Mio said as the light of the night obscured her face.

"Goodnight, Akiyama-san." He said as he turned to open the gate. "Also.." Mio stepped forward towards Keima.

Keima turned to listen to what Mio was supposed to say, but was shocked to see her so close to him. The familiar smell of her hair was all he could smell as she closed in on the boy.

Mio kissed Keima on the cheek as He stood petrified. "call me Mio." She said as she tried hard to hide her blushing.

"Bye." She said as she hurriedly dashed off home. Keima just stood there with a dumb look on his face as he was trying to absorb what just happened. It took him quite a while before he got back to his senses. His head still hurt like hell, but the pain was well worth it.

* * *

In the next chapter:  
The light music club's first male member attends his first official club meeting. Will he be able to meet everybody's expectations? 


	5. Chapter 5: Confusion

Hello guys,

Just got back from vacation.

To those who read this, thanks for your time, Reviews are very much appreciated.

Here is chapter 5. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 5:

* * *

It was a bright and sunny saturday morning. There was an energy - giving aura in the breeze, making the day very much well suited for hanging outside and basking in the sunlight.

Of course, Keima wouldn't notice this from under the covers of his bed. He had no class for the later half of the week, so he never bothered to set the alarm. For the past few days, he's done nothing but sleep and rest. The doctor said he had to let his head recover from the concussion.

It was already a few minutes past 9 when he was awakened by someone knocking on his door.

"Keima kun?"

A familiar voice made Keima emerge from his bed almost instantaneously. "Eh?"

"Um.. Keima kun? Are.. are you there?" Keima hurriedly stood up and went to the door.

"G-good morning Keima-kun!" Mio said in an awkward tone as Keima stood there with a blank expression on his face.

Seeing the confused expression on Keima's face, Mio cleared her throat. "Since we didn't have classes this week, we decided to hold one of our meetings at your place. Ritsu told you yesterday, remember?"

Keima stood there silent as he rummaged through his mind of such an occurence.

* * *

_Keima was half asleep in his bed as he answered his phone. "How are you doing, Stalker san?"_

_"I'm ok.." Keima said automatically, like a programmed response. "Look, is it alright if the light music club meets there at your place? Its just for a little meeting, don't worry about the equipment. Will it be ok?"_

_Keima responded with a groan, that actually sounded like a geture of approval. "Alright! See you tomorrow."_

_

* * *

_

That moment, Keima snapped out of his drowsiness as he glanced from the distance and looked at Mio. Mio eyed him and laughed a bit. "Looks like you forgot. Did you just wake up?" Keima raised his finger as he said, "One moment, please."

As he entered his room, he frantically glanced at the floor as he tried to look for a quick fix for the chaos that was his room. "How can I forget?" He whispered under his breath. Gathering all the dirty clothes on the floor, he kicked open the closet and threw everything in it. For the garbage and the littered paper on the floor, he hurriedly reached for the broom and gathered everything near one of the doors leading to a storage room, before shoving everything inside the room. Seeing the room somewhat clean enough, he raced to the bathroom and dunked his head into the sink and opened the faucet. As soon as he got his hair in its proper form, he then returned to Mio.

"Sorry for the delay." Keima said as he led Mio into the room. It was quite spacious for one person. In one end was Keima's bed, beside his cabinet. Along the wall was his closet, where he hid all his dirty laundry. Beside that was the door to his stockroom, where he places everything he finds too bulky to be in the main room. Beside the stockroom door was the bathroom. In the middle of the room was a small table, which Keima uses when eating meals. Near the table was the guitar stand where his Bass guitar was. This was the first thing that Mio noticed in the room.

"This is your guitar?" She said with eager eyes. "Yeah. I've had it since middle school. Its a Washburn T12, I think." Keima said as he sat down beside the table. "Its gorgeous." Mio said as she lifted the guitar, but immediately noticing that it had no strings.

"Ah, I forgot to put the strings." Keima walked to the shelves beside his bed as he picked up the tuner and the bass strings. "You use the bass too, right?" He said as he placed the strings on the table.

"Yeah, I've been playing it for some time now.." She said as she handed him the guitar.

"Do you have any other bands aside from the Light Music Club?" Keima blurted out in an effort to have a topic for conversation. Odd enough, she was the only one who was there, although the others were supposed to be with her. He hoped the others would come quickly, but a part of him also wished they never came.

"I don't. But for some reason, I feel satisfied and comfortable having them as my bandmates." She said as she watched him place the strings on his instrument. "How about you? Do you have a band?"

"Well, I used to." Keima said as he tightened the strings on his guitar and picked the tuner to check on the guitar's tuning. "Back in middle school me and some of my friends made a band. We never got to last more than one year, though. Because I had to transfer schools." He continued as he plucked a few strings and checked their pitch.

"Why?" Mio said as she placed her face on her palms as she watched Keima continued tuning his guitar. Come to think of it, it was only this year that she saw him in the school. If he was here for a long time, he would have heard at least something about the Light Music Club.. and her accident. She was glad he didn't see it though.

"My family's business required us to travel constantly." He said as he put down the tuner and plucked the 5th frets and the adjacent higher string to check the consistency of tone. "It was only this year that I decided to live on my own here so I can finish high school."

"Heh. Its done." Keima smiled as he played a few notes on the guitar.

"How nostalgic! Its been years since I last used this."

Mio smiled as she watched Keima, who was happy as a child given a new toy, refamiliarize himself with his guitar.

"Hoho. Looks like the Dangerous Queen of the After School Tea Time has fallen in love." A voice behind Mio whispered into her ear.

"Eh!" Mio jumped at the voice behind her, who was accompanied by 4 other girls.

* * *

"So, welcome to my humble abode." Keima said as he sat on one end of the table. "Sorry if its not that tidy."

"Its alright. We should be the one apologizing for holding the meeting at such short notice." The drummer said as she leaned on the wall.

"So, what are we going to talk about?"

"..."

"Honestly, I don't know." This reply made everybody in the room drop on the floor.

"What? You called us out here for nothing?" An irritated Azu-nyan screamed. Yui managed to calm her down later by rubbing her head like a cat.

Ritsu cleared her throat as she stood up. "As president of the Light Music Club, I hereby this meeting as the official welcoming of our new member, Stalker-san!" The girls gave him a round of applause. "I wish you would stop calling me stalker." Keima said in a flat tone.

"AND!" Ritsu continued, "because of that very reason, we will celebrate today with katsu-don and ice cream!"

"Ice cream!" Yui screamed out enthusiastically.

"Really?" Keima said as he was shocked with the sudden cause for celebration.

"Using stalker-san's money!" Ritsu said with a sly smile. Mio's fist connected with Ritsu's face instantaneously.

* * *

"Keima-san, Yui and I will be going to the market to get some food." Mugi said in her usual tone as they left for the market. "You girls be good, alright?" Yui and Ritsu nod enthusiastically like dogs waiting for their food. "Alright, we'll be back in an hour." Keima said as he closed the door behind him.

"So this is stalker-san's home!" Ritsu said as she glanced around the room.

"Lets find pictures of Mio here!" The sentence was followed by Ritsu's mumbling as her face hit the floor.

"Keima-san's pretty remarkable, being able to live alone like this." Asuza said as she wandered about Keima's room. She glanced at the nearby cabinet and noticed the pictures and trophies on top.

"Ritsu-senpai, look at this." She said as she took one of the pictures from the cabinet. In the picture frame was a medal, alongside a youger picture of Keima aiming a recurve bow downrange. She tried to call out to her seniors again, but were too busy fighting and teasing each other.

"I wonder why he didn't join the archery club.." Azusa trailed off she glanced at the other pictures and saw more medals and trophies. "..he could've been legendary, judging from all this."

There was one trophy that was different than the others, though. It had a lot of scratches and was the dirtiest of all the trophies. Also, its topmost part was missing, as if it broke off and was never found. Beside it was a picture of Keima posing for a picture. Azusa picked up the picture and looked at Keima. He seemed to be full of life then, and what caught her attention was the bright white fletches on his arrows.

* * *

"My allowance.. gone.." Keima said lifelessly as he laid in shambles in one corner of the room as Mugi and Azusa prepared the table for the meal. Ritsu and Yui were boxing each other out from the ice cream which they bought. Mio was just spacing out and looking at each and every one of the people.

She turned to Mugi and Azusa.

"Place it on separate plates, like this." Mugi then showed Azusa the plates that she brought with her to the house.

Then, she glanced at Yui ang Ritsu.

"I will get the first scoop!" Ritsu said as she grabbed on to the tub of ice cream. "No fair!" Yui said as she wrestled with the drummer.

Finally, she looked at Keima, who was still brooding over his lost money.

"No...money...I don't think I can eat again this week.. haha... hahaha..." He said with almost souless eyes.

Mio went over to Keima and sat beside him. The boy didn't seem to notice this, and continued on filling the room with negative energy. "I was the one who suggested this to Ritsu, sorry!" She said as she noticed Keima starting to flail around in his corner.

"Hey, about the other day.." Mio said as she tried to avoid looking at Keima.

Keima stopped as he remembered that night.

_"Also.. call me Mio.."_

Keima froze and sat upright and began to panic.

"Oh..you mean the kiss? No, I mean, I was just..." Keima blurted out as he wasn't sure what she was talking about. But as soon as the word kiss was said, the entire room went totally silent.

Mugi's face went frozen as she dropped the plates onto the floor. Azusa's jaw dropped as she looked at the couple in the corner. Yui and Ritsu, however, had a more active reaction to what Keima said. Mio eyes widened as she covered her blushing face with her hands.

"So that's why you stayed back at the hospital..." Ritsu said as she closed in at the two.

"MIO-CHAN!~" Yui exclaimed as tears flowed down her cheek. "I WILL WISH YOUR FAMILY A FRUITFUL FUTURE!"

"Wait! Let me explain!" Keima tried to interfere, knowing that Mio was already under heavy fire from her friends.

"I didn't mean it to be like that!" Mio screamed out. "It was an accident!" The entire room became quiet again, but this time, it was more awkward than the first time everybody became quiet. The club was used to Mio denying everything, but this time, those words had a different feeling to them.

"Harsh." Ritsu said as she backed off a little.

It was as if Keima died a little upon hearing those words. Mugi glanced at the boy as he went back to his flailing around in his corner like a kid. A concerned look can be seen on Mugi's face.

* * *

_"So, Keima-san. Do you like Mio?" Mugi said as she tailed Keima in the grocery. "What?" Keima reeled as he tried to avoid the question._

_"Don't worry, I won't leak it. Plus, Yui's over there in the ice cream section." She smiled at Keima. "Your secret's gonna be safe with me."_

_Keima sighed as he continued on looking for the things they needed to buy. "Yeah. You could say that." He said as he acted that those words were no big deal._

_"Then you would say, Do you love her?, or ask me if I'll spend my forever with her." Keima then glanced back to Mugi. "I like her. Though... I don't know if I could love her." He then laughed. "But as long as she's happy, I guess I'll be fine."_

* * *

The club ate their dinner and continued their meeting about upcoming practices, which was probably not going to be followed. Also, some rumors about an inter-club sports fest was announced by Ritsu. Throughout the rest of the evening though, Mio was silent. As soon as they were finished, and after cleaning the mess they made at the house, Mugi glanced at the others. They needed to do a little damage control for Keima.

"So, shall we go home?" Ritsu said as she yawned.

"We have to go in pairs." Mugi said as she packed up the last of her stuff in her bag. "They said there was a murderer at large in the neighborhood." Upon hearing this, Mio's poker face suddenly cracked. Even for that lame excuse, it still worked, it was Mio, after all.

"Well then. See you guys!" Yui said as she dragged along Azusa. Mugi let Ritsu go out first and glanced at Keima. By the time everybody left, Mio was the only one left on the table. Keima, who was still beside her, stood up to clean some of the remaining dishes. But before he could make it to the sink, Mio tugged on his shirt.

"Keima-kun..." She said with a shaking voice. "...can you... walk me home?"

Keima sighed as he glanced back at her. "Sure." How can he resist?

It was already around 9 in the evening when the two left Keima's house. None of the uttered a word while they were walking. It was hell for Keima, who didn't know what happened at the table earlier. _"I didn't mean it to be like that."_ Those words echoed in his mind. It was annoying.

_"I guess its over."_ Keima suddenly felt a pain in his chest as he accepted his loss. It was too good to be true, anyway. How could he be worthy of Mio? He just wanted the day to end so he could get on living his mediocre life.

After a few blocks and a left turn at a corner, they finally reached Mio's house.

"Here's my house." She said as she stepped away from Keima.

"So, uhh. I'll be going then." Keima said as he turned to go home. "Good night, Akiyama-san." He frowned as he said those words. _"So its back to just the last name, huh."_

_"Why did I do that?"_ Mio thought to herself. _"Why did I say that?"_

"I didn't mean it..." She said to herself as she watched Keima walk down the road.

_"Why... did I feel sad when I said that?"_ She focused at Keima, who was almost at the corner then.

_"Even just his back.. I feel like I want to stand here and watch him forever."_

_"..or at least until he reaches the corner."_ She shivered as the evening breeze blew.

But as Keima reached the corner, he paused for a moment, before glancing back at Mio. And the two stopped when they realized they were both looking at each other.

"Eh." Those were the only words they were able to say. Mio's face suddenly became red.

"Ah. See..See ya!" Keima said as he was starting to panic.

"Y-Yeah. See ya.." Mio said as she was trying to hide her blush.

"Holy crap! I thought she went in already!" Keima said to himself as he ran full speed back to his house.

As Keima disppeared into the corner, Mio leaned onto the wall.

_"He looked back.. and he said "See ya.".. why.." _By then she could now hear her heart beating faster as she stood there alone in the street.

_"..Why am I so happy?"_ Then, she realized someting.

_"Does this mean that... that I..."_

The breeze began to blow again, but Mio didn't mind being cold. For some reason, she felt warm.

From a distance, someone was watching the entire exchange from the shadows. Seeing that Mio went inside her house a few moments later, the figure revealed herself to be a familiar girl with black hair and pigtails. "Keima-kun.."

* * *

In the next chapter:  
The Light Music club is challenged in the upcoming sports festival. Will they be able to put up a good fight? And someone gets jealous of the developments between Mio and Keima.


	6. Chapter 6: Jealousy

Hello guys,

Recently, I've been enthralled by the sport target archery. Now, there's a big difference between traditional archery, such as kyudo, and target archery. Simply put, the bows being used in recurve archery are more complicated than that of a simple wooden bow.

Anyway, here's chapter 6. Enjoy. :P

* * *

Chapter 6:

* * *

It was the start of a new week now, and the damages done to the school by the recent fire was already dealt with. There were no chemistry classes for the meantime, as all the equipment and the stocked chemicals were yet to be tested for usability. This was a lazy day for everyone, as both teacher and students were still recovering from their laziness from the long weekend.

"Good afternoon, everyone." Keima said as he entered the Music room. He was shocked to see no one, except Azusa, who was practicing in the corner.

"Good afternoon, Keima-kun" Azusa said as she paused to see him look around confused.

"I thought you guys were gonna practice today?" Keima said as he wandered towards the room's benches, setting down his guitar there.

Azusa sighed as she stood there, gripping her guitar. "Ritsu-senpai and Mio-senpai went to attend a meeting concerning the sports fest, and the others haven't arrived yet.." She then stummed a C# on her guitar.

"You should probably get used to this, Keima-kun. They're always slacking off!" She said in a frustrated voice. Although the club always turned out fine during performances, they never had a lot of serious practices in the music room. It was either everyone was eating, or loafing around, or doing something else.

"Well, no use in complaining about that." Keima said as he opened his guitar bag. Azusa watched him as he took out his guitar and put the strap over his head. "Why don't we practice?" Azusa watched him as he took out a cord from his bag and attached it to the room's bass amplifier.

"Eh.. practice?" The girl was surprised at the thought. She always complained about not being able to practice and all, but now that she had someone else to practice with, it felt...different.

"E...A...D..." Keima said as he checked the tone of his guitar. "...and G...I'm set." He then looked at Azusa. Both stared at each other, and an awkward silence filled the room.

"What do we practice?" Azusa said as she glanced at his guitar. Although he had a guitar, he sure would not know anything that they played at the light music club. Even if he would, he probably would't fit in the song, since they are an all-girl band.

Keima looked at the ceiling as he thought up of something. "C and F." He then darted his eyes at Azusa. The girl understood this and played a few strums on her guitar. Keima listened to her strumming, then started playing on his guitar too.

"Then, C, F, A minor!" Keima said as he watched Azusa continue on strumming. He watched the girl as she looked like she was enjoying herself. This was the first time she had fun in practice, not that she doesn't like practicing with the other girls, but they barely practice.

"..then G." Azusa then glanced at Keima as she continued on strumming. There was something about this guy, he looked to be ordinary and plain, but..

_Azusa remembers Keima's pictures at his house._

..there was something else.

"Alright then, I think we've completed the entire song." Keima said after a few minutes.

"What song is this?" Asuza said as she shook her already tired fingers.

"Well, I don't know if you've heard of this band.." He took out his mp3 player and approached Azusa.

The girl jumped as he quickly put on his earphones onto her. "Its 'Hit in the USA' by Beat Crusaders. I used to practice this song, with my former band."

_"Former band... Trophies and Medals..."_ Azusa clenched her fists. _"Just who are you?"_ Even though the boy was quite familiar to her, he still had a mysterious air to him. This made her curious, and this annoyed her to no end.

And just as she was about to say something the door to the music room opened and in came Mio, who quickly glanced at the two. "Keima-kun, can you come with me to the sports meeting? Ritsu wandered off again." She said as she stopped to catch her breath. Looks like she was running all over the place. "Each club needed 2 representatives, so.."

Keima handed his player to Azusa as he placed down his guitar on a nearby stand in the room. "No Problem, what should I do?" He then went to Mio as she took out a notepad to explain to him the agenda of the meetng.

Azusa felt a heaviness in her chest as she watched the two talk.

"We're going to the meeting, Azusa-chan. If Ritsu comes here, tell her I'm going to kill her later." Mio said as she tugged Keima towards the door.

"You can have that for now, go ahead and practice. Good luck!" Keima said as he closed the door.

As the door closed shut, Azusa gripped the player and looked down.

"...Mio-senpai's lucky."

* * *

"Wait.. what?" Keima said as Mio dragged him along the corridor.

Mio sighed as she stopped in front of a door, seemingly the Student Council room. "The council will be holding a sports fest for the clubs in the school, so we have to pick a few events that we're going to play in."

Keima scratched his head as he thought about the proposal. "But how can we compete against the others? We're not actually a sports-oriented club, right? Going toe to toe with the actual clubs would be... impossible." He had a point. They would be either incredibly brave of incredibly stupid to go against the school's varsity teams.

"There's no harm in trying, right?" The bassist said with a smile. "Come on." And with that, she opened the door to the meeting.

The meeting started as soon the clubs' representatives were completed. Aside from the formal introductions of each club, and the overview of the meetings, the presiders of the meeting announced the events for the sports fest. All that's left to do was to enlist in the sports. One sport caught Keima's attention.

"There will also be target archery, aside from kyudo." The student at the front announced.

As the other clubs began to enlist themselves in the sports, Mio seemed to be unsure at what to pick.

"Eh..voleyball..lacrosse.. I'm not good at any of these!" She said in a frustrating voice as she glanced back at Keima. "What do you think?"

But before Keima was able to answer, one of the seniors from the archery club approached Mio. He was a tall guy, a few inches taller than Keima. The most striking feature about him was his dark brown hair and his blue eyes. Keima glanced at Mio with a look implying, "Who's this guy?" but Mio had an annoyed face as she saw the boy approach.

"Akiyama-san. Have you considered my proposal?" He boy said. He had an arrogant air about him as he looked down at the two. Mio turned away as she replied. "I'm not going to bother." The boy laughed as he glanced at Keima. "Who's this, your new member?" He laughed as he finished the sentence, as if condescending him and the light music club. This pissed off Keima. He clenched his teeth as he stood up and faced the boy. The room suddenly went silent as they watched the two stand face to face.

"The archery club will take the target archery event and the traditional archery events." The blue eyed boy said as he kept staring down at Keima. "And what about the Light Music Club?" He smirked at Mio, and this made her uneasy.

"The light music club's taking on target archery as well." Ritsu said as she leaned back on the wall on the far end of the room. "Ritsu!" Mio didn't seem to notice her there, as she was already in the meeting before the two made it.

"Is that a challenge?" The blue eyed boy laughed as he moved to leave the room. "Very well. Challenge accepted."

The atmosphere in the room lightened as the boy left.

Keima, who remained standing the entire time, snapped back to reality as Ritsu patted his back. "Don't mind him. He's been the resident douchebag of the school since he transferred last year."

Mio sighed as she glanced at Keima. "He tried to ask me out a few months back, but I refused. He's been bugging me a lot ever since then. At first, it was flattering, but now its just plain annoying."

"More importantly," Mio said in an irritated voice. "how are we going to compete against our own school team on the very sport that they're good at?" Ritsu just laughed as she scratched her head.

"Where do we get the equipment anyway?" Keima said as he scratched his nose. "We can't train without equipment, right?"

"We can borrow at the gym." Mio said as she stood up from her seat. "The festival's in one week. We have to find someone who can play for us." Ritsu added.

"Also, we have to find someone who can teach us. Until we do, we'll have to research about the sport instead."

Keima let out a sigh as he dug his hands in his pockets. "I guess this I have no choice."

"I can teach you guys how to shoot." He said in a firm voice. "Though its been a very long time since I last played the sport." This was something he wished to lock away in his past. But the thought of that guy sickened him to no end, he just had to see him lose.

* * *

Later, at the Music room, the club's members were now complete in attendance, as Ritsu called on everyone for a meeting about upcoming events. One included the school's sports fest and an upcoming music festival they were planning to join.

"Its decided then." Ritsu said as she finalized the meeting. "For the sports fest, Stalker-san will be playing for the boys and I will play for the girls division." She then turned to Azusa, Yui and Mugi. "Also, we have to prepare for the upcoming music festival at one of the neighboring cities. Since we'll be busy for the sports fest, I'm leaving the responsibility for the initial preparations for the performance." She said with a bright smile and a thumbs up.

Keima kept silent the entire time as his mind was preoccupied by the thought of that blue eyed boy. Mio would glance at him again and again, and noticed that he wasn't really paying attention to the meeting. Once the meeting was over, she rolled one of the music sheets lying around and slapped him on the face lightly.

"Wake up, airhead." She said with a smile.

"Ow." Keima said as the paper was still in his face.

"Time to go home." Mio said as she gestured him to get up from the chair already. "Lets go!" This continued for a few minutes, as Keima was too lazy to hurry up packing his things and Mio poking him to fix his things faster. From a distance, one would guess that the two were a couple.

Azusa watched them from a distance and wondered if they've noticed this too. She kept Keima's mp3 player close to her heart as she left the room to go home.

* * *

In the next chapter:  
Training! The Sports Fest Team start their grueling crash couse in the sport as the dreaded day of competition draws near.


	7. Chapter 7: Perseverance

Hello guys,

Lately, I've been struck with depression. Don't know why, really, I just feel bored with everything I do. Luckily, my writing hasn't been affected by it. It would really be a bummer if it was.

Anyway, I've been thinking this morning on how to continue the story from chapter 6. I noticed that the storyline I created a few days back began to steer away from romance, so I made a few... adjustments.

Also, notice that the story's physical format is a bit better. I decided to stop using notepad++ for writing my fanfics. I picked up a habit of writing everything in notepad++ from programming too much.

Anyway, enough talk. Here's Chapter 7

* * *

Chapter 7:

* * *

Keima and Mio walked home together again for the fifth time that week. Both of them didn't seem to notice that its been that long, but they didn't seem to mind. They both lived near each other, so it wouldn't be too much of a hassle for them to go home together. The light music club members were the ones who first noticed this pattern, and kept silent about it – not that they were against the couple, they were really rooting for the two, save for a certain someone who was keeping her jealousy under covers.

The two decided to pass by the nearby bread store on their way home. Yuzu glanced at the two as they entered the shop together. Keima and Mio stopped in their tracks, anticipating what the shopkeeper would say.

"So.." She said as she set down a tray of bread she was carrying. "..you two are already going out?"

Mio became flustered as she tried to say that they were not, but couldn't even complete a sentence without being tongue-tied. Keima froze like a statue and kept silent all the while. Yuzu laughed while watching the two look stupid, and apologized for her joke.

"I was just kidding, just kidding." She said as she glanced at the two. "So, what brings you here?"

Keima, shaking off his petrification, replied. "We're here to get some bread for our practice tomorrow."

It was already Friday before they knew it. In their last club meeting, Ritsu decided that she had to split the club into two teams to handle the upcoming sports fest and the upcoming performance. She thought it would be a good idea to do that, so to not waste time – an action that baffled the rest of the group, as Ritsu was never this responsible before. During the weekend, the Sports Fest team – Mio, Ritsu and Keima, would be training for the competition.

"Hoho. I heard you challenged the archery club." The shop owner said as she popped open a paper bag and began to stuff it with bread.

"News sure does get around quick." Mio said as she approached the counter to pay.

"Yeah, it sure does." Yuzu then handed the bag to Mio.

"Everybody thinks this guy's your boyfriend, too." She said as she raised a finger to point at Keima.

"W-What?" The girl said as she almost dropped the bag on the floor.

Keima became red as he entertained the thought of being coined as Mio's boyfriend. Yuzu noticed this and laughed. "The boy's enjoying it, it seems. Why not make the rumor real?"

Ignoring that last sentence, Mio glanced at Keima as he spaced out. Seeing him like that, she shoved the bag of bread into his face, almost knocking him off balance. "Eh?" Keima snapped out of his trance as he saw Mio looking at him angrily.

"What'd I do?" He said in a confused voice. "You're stupid." Mio shook her head and tugged on his arm as she dragged him out of the shop.

* * *

As they reached Keima's house, Mio took the bread and glanced at the boy.

"8 am at the school's gate, right?" She said as she smiled.

"Yeah." He said as he leaned back to his house's gate. He watched Mio turn to leave, but then, suddenly,

"KYAA!" Keima jumped in surprise as Mio suddenly clinged on to him.

"What's the matter?" He said in a confused voice as he tried to calm the girl down. The girl shakily pointed to a large rat, which happened to cross the street.

"Wow. That's big." Keima laughed as he teased Mio

"Shut up." She said as she tightened her hug on Keima.

Keima laughed. To be honest, her arms felt nice. He wished the rat would just stay there forever, if Mio would stay like this. Out of impulse, Keima raised his arms and hugged her too. The girl jumped as she felt his arms around her.

"Hey.."

"K-Keima-kun?" Mio said in a weak voice.

"..the rat's gone." He said as he patted Mio's head. Mio looked up at him and was realized that she was a few inches from Keima's face.

Mio hurriedly backed away from Keima. "..Sorry.." She said as she tried not to look him in the eye.

"Good night, Mio-chan." He noticed that Mio was fidgeting as she tried to cover up her embarrassed face. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah." She said with a weak smile as she started to walk home.

"Good night, Keima-kun."

* * *

The next day, Keima woke up early as he prepared for their training later at the school. Taking his bag on the shelf, he took out everything in the bag as he cleaned his equipment one by one. He did so with much reluctance, though, but he had to do this, and decided that it was only for this time. He gripped the maroon-gold colored handle of his bow and took a peek at its sight. "Long time no see, Gandiva." He whispered to the bow. As he finished cleaning, he packed up his stuff and started preparing to leave.

By the time Keima arrived at the school, Ritsu and Mio were already there, carrying the bags of equipment that Ritsu managed to borrow from a few friends in the archery club. The morning sun glistened in the grass as the trio set down their equipment near a set of benches.

"So, what's the plan, coach?" Ritsu said as she glanced at Keima.

The boy cleared his throat as stepped in front of the two. "First of all, before we begin, you must know how to assemble your bow." Taking out his own bow in front of them, he carefully showed them how to attach the limbs to the handle, and how to brace a bow. After a few more minutes of shooting basics, the two girls were already shooting at the target. Although their arrows were going all over the place.

"This is going to take more time than I imagined.." Keima said as he sighed.

"This.. is really difficult!" Mio said as she patted her already bruised arm. She decided to play in the sports fest too, as the other clubs encouraged more members to participate in the events.

"Lets take a break for now." The boy said as he sat down on the benches.

"No fair." Ritsu said as she leaned back on her chair. "I haven't seen you shoot, stalker-san."

"Ritsu!" Mio snapped at her friend. He was already teaching them, after all. The least they could do was not to pressure him.

"Alright then." Keima said as he approached his bag, and pulled out a white and black leather hip quiver and wrapped it around his waist. Taking his arrows out of their box, he put them in the quiver and approached his bow. The two looked on in awe as he attached the stabilizers on the bow and picked it up, and moved to the shooting line.

"Here goes." Taking a deep breath, he placed one arrow on the string and glanced downrange. He then raised the bow then pulled on the string, which he aligned to his chin, lips and nose. As he finished aiming, he pulled the string a bit more. As a weak clicking sound was heard, he let loose the string, which made a low, solid vibrating sound as the arrow flung itself straight to the target.

"Wow." Ritsu looked on as Keima continued to shoot all his remaining arrows. The arrows grouped consistently on one spot of the target, although it was a bit off-center.

Mio watched Keima as he shot his arrows. There was a different air about him now, as if he became more.. intimidating.

"In archery.." The boy said as he set down his bow. "...consistency is the key. Remember that."

* * *

The three continued on their training until the afternoon. Some progress was made, but they were all dead tired. Keima slouched as he sat on the bench, while Ritsu lied down on the wooden floor of the shooting line. Mio leaned on a nearby post as she sat beside the drummer.

"I'm going to get some drinks." Mio said as she staggered off.

Ritsu glanced at Keima as he sat there on the bench.

"Can we really match up to those archery club people?" She said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Honestly?" Keima replied as he pulled himself up. "I don't know."

Ritsu sighed as she stared at the sky. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"But, I don't care if they are better." Keima interrupted.

"As long as I think I can win, I'll definitely win." He said as he held out his hand towards the target, making a gun with his hands. "Same rule applies to everything."

With those words, Ritsu smiled. "You're alright." Keima glanced back at her with a confused look.

"When I first heard about you, I thought you were one of those typical guys who would talk the talk, but fail to deliver." Ritsu then glanced at Keima with a smile. "I don't want Mio to be with someone who's like that. She's like a sister to me, you know? I'm just glad to know that her heart will be in responsible hands.."

Keima stayed silent as Ritsu pulled herself up to sit. "You have my blessing to be Mio's beloved!~"

The drummer's speech was suddenly interrupted by a bottle of juice to the face.

"Enough of your nonsense." Mio said with a flat voice as she handed Keima a bottle too.

"Thanks." The boy said as he placed the bottle on his head to cool off.

"So this leaves us with how many days left before the competition?" Mio said as she sat down beside Keima.

"Exactly one week." Ritsu replied as she took a sip from the bottle.

"Alright then." Keima said as he stood up from the benches. He held up his hand and gestured the others to join him. "Nothing wrong with a little team spirit, right?" Mio got what he meant, and placed her hand on top of his. Ritsu joined in too. "Our cheer is K-on, fight! Ready?" Keima took a deep breath as he prepared to shout.

"K-On!"

"FIGHT!"

* * *

In the next chapter:

The day of the sports fest finally arrives. Will they be able to win?


	8. Chapter 8: Rivalries

Hello guys,

Thanks for taking the time to read. Please review afterward, alright? I would gladly accept any comment.

Here's chapter 8. I had fun making this one. Hope you have fun reading. :P

* * *

Chapter 8:

* * *

The day of the competition has come, and the shooting range was filled with spectators and the players for the school's sports fest. The archery club has their delegates lined up neatly on one side of the range, with the other participating clubs settled in their own given positions.

The light music club's players finally arrived on site. More importantly, Keima was fully dressed for the event – he was wearing his old team uniform and cargo shorts. To top it all off, he wore a white bucket hat. He turned to Mio and Ritsu, who were also dressed for the occasion as he placed down his bag on the benches.

"So, this is it, eh?" Ritsu said as she stretched her arms in the air.

Mio kept silent as she eyed the spectators. There were a lot of people watching, and this made her conscious. She jumped as Keima placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, chill." He said as he smiled. Mio nodded and took a deep breath.

"I can't believe I'm here today in one piece."

A lot of things happened during the past few days, apparently. As Keima began to assemble his equipment, he recalled the events that led to that day.

* * *

Monday:

* * *

"Good morning Keima-kun!" Keima turned around to see a familiar face walking behind him.

"Azusa-chan.." He said as he waited for her to catch up. "Good morning."

"I finished practicing most of the songs I heard in your player, they were really good!" She said with as smile as the two continued walking along. She was carrying a small box covered in cloth, probably a bentou.

Keima glanced at the girl as they made their way down the road. "Really? Which songs?"

"Most of the songs from Beat Crusaders, and a few from L'arc En Ciel... though I don't know how we'll be able to perform the songs in english without a fluent vocalist." The boy watched as the girl's eyes lit up as she spoke.

"You managed with the L'arc songs? That's nice!" Keima smiled. Azusa looked down as she was trying to hide her smile too. She felt happy from that simple compliment.

"Wait up!" The two looked back at the road to see Mio running after them.

"You're early." Keima said sarcastically as the distance between the two shortened.

"You're mean! You said you'll wait for me!" Mio said as she catched her breath.

"Well, I thought you already went to school, its a bit odd for you to be coming to school this late." Keima said as he scratched his head.

"Still, you should have just texted me!"

Azusa started to feel out of place as the two continued to argue. Whenever she would glance at Keima, for some reason, she would feel excited. But now, seeing Keima with Mio, she felt sad, as if an invisible wall now stood between her and the two.

She looked down as she tightened the grip on her bentou. She took a glance at the box's lid, which read: "Thanks for the player, Keima kun!"

* * *

Present

* * *

Going back to the competition, the first round was already done in the first hour of the game. In the mens' division, Keima managed to get past his competitors without much difficulty. In the women's division, Mio managed to make it through, but Ritsu almost got eliminated in her last match.

"So far, so good." Mio said as she tied her hair to a ponytail.

"Keep it up guys, don't lose your focus" Keima said as he checked his arrows for any damage.

"That.. that was too close." Ritsu said as she stretched her arms.

"Competitors, please proceed to the shooting line for the elimination round." The announcer said on the megaphone. The air was heavy in the range as the final round was about to begin. Letting out a sigh, Keima stood up and nodded at his teammates.

"Alright, showtime."

* * *

Friday

* * *

"Good afternoon, everyone." Keima said as he entered the light music room. Although he was disappointed to find no one inside. "Where'd everyone go to now?" He thought to himself as he saw a note on the ground.

Went to the gym. Be right back -Azusa.

Keima took a seat on the bench as he waited for the others to come. Almost an hour passed, but no one came to the music room.

"That's odd." He said to himself as he pulled out his phone to check the time. It was already a few minutes before 6. As he looked at the time, he received a disturbing message.

"If you want to see Azusa again, come to the park later at 7:3o pm. Come alone..."

What shocked Keima was the words that ended the message.

"..no use waiting for her there, she won't be coming back from the gym."

Keima froze as he carefully thought of what to do. He couldn't call on the others, since Azusa might be endangered if the news spreads. Clenching his fists, he took off towards the park and decided to wait.

* * *

He arrived at the park at around 6:3o. Glancing around, he made plans in his mind for every scenario that he could think of. For all he knew, it could be another case of kidnapping, and the captors might only be asking for money. He loitered around the park for the rest of the hour before the meeting time.

After a while, Keima glanced at his watch. It was already 7:3o. He stretched his arms and prepared to face whatever or whoever decided to make a threat to Azusa. He was her senior, age-wise, so he felt it necessary to protect her.

"Keima..kun." A voice came from behind Keima. The boy quickly turned around and saw Mio.

"What are you doing here, Mio?" But when he looked at Mio's eyes, something was different.

Her eyes were red, and Mio's eyes weren't red, as Keima remembered.

"You.." He said as the girl pretending to be Mio glanced at his eyes. His eyes widened as he finally realized who the person in front of him was. "...Azusa?"

Azusa stood there, her hair wasn't tied up as it usually was. Her black hair flowed down her shoulders, and the light from the nearby posts only partly lit her face. One would easily mistake her for Mio, with her looking like that. Keima took a few steps towards her. "There you are! I've been looking-"

"Stay back!" She screamed as she backed away from Keima.

"What? What's going on here?" The boy said as he stood his ground. He didn't know what to do. Come to think of it, he barely knew anything about Azusa, and probably, he didn't know much about her reasons for doing what she did.

"Don't come any closer..." The girl began to sob as she slowly broke into tears.

"What's wrong with you? Everybody's worried sick about you!" Keima said as he tried to approach Azusa, but the girl kept her distance.

"Just leave me alone, alright?" She said as she began to run away in tears.

Keima ran after her and grabbed her hand. Azusa tried to pull her arm and get away, but Keima managed to snag her other arm. She struggled to break free, but the boy now had her locked in an embrace. The two stayed silent as Keima waited for her to talk.

"..I was jealous, you know?" Azusa finally spoke after a few moments. The evening breeze blew across the road, and swept her hair.

"When I heard what you did for Mio-senpai... how you saved her.." Keima paused as he felt the coldness of the wind on his cheek.

"I thought.. if I get myself in trouble, would you come to save me?" Azusa continued as she managed to compose herself now.

"I know how you feel about Mio-senpai. She's more beautiful than I am, she's more mature.. so I thought, if I looked like her, would you feel the same way for me too? I was afraid of you falling for each other.." Azusa pushed Keima back a bit as she took one deep breath.

"..because I like you, Keima-kun." She said smiling, as she wiped the tears off her face. She finally said it. It was as if a big thorn was pulled off her chest.

Keima sighed as he approached her. "Idiot." He said as he poked a finger at her forehead.

"What? It took all of my courage to say that, and then you only say.. 'Idiot'?" Azusa said as she blushed from the mixed emotions of anger and embarrassment.

"No one can replace anyone."

"Mio-chan is Mio-chan, and Azusa-chan is Azusa-chan." The girl became quiet as Keima glanced at her,

"Because of that very reason, there are some things you can't do that Mio can.."

"..and there are also things that you can do that Mio certainly can't." Keima smiled as he glanced at Azusa, who was silenced by his words. "It was only by chance that Mio managed to get someone who likes her." He laughed as he scratched his head.

"I'm not really good at this, but... Sorry." Keima smiled as he took a bow as if to apologize.

Azusa blurted out as she leaned forward a bit. "I won't give up, you know!"

"I don't care if Mio-senpai's better than me, but as long as I think I can win..." Keima's eyes widened as he heard the familiar line.

"...I'll definitely win!" She said with a smile, as she raised her hand towards Keima, making a gun.

* * *

Present

* * *

30 minutes into the elimination round, and all hell broke lose. Ritsu lost her first match with an opponent from the Kendo club. Mio managed to make it through her first few matches, only to be beaten by a member of the archery club. The last two matches was the only ones left, and were reserved for after a short break.

"I knew we wouldn't win." Ritsu sighed as she sat down on the benches. She was dead tired from the competition. "If I knew it was this hard, I would've just picked Mugi to play."

"Keima-kun's still fighting." Mio said as she watched the boy carrying his bow back from the shooting line. "There's still hope for us to win, Ritsu!"

"My next match is that blue-eyed boy." He said as he put down his equipment. His arms now ached as he was exhausted. He didn't shoot for a very long time until recently, and he wasn't exactly in shape for tournament.

"Good luck, stalker-san." Ritsu held out her hand in a high-5 gesture. "We pass on our hopes and dreams to you."

Keima returned the gesture and replied. "Isn't that a bit exaggerated?"

"Keima-kun.." Mio said as she tried not to look at his eyes. "..give it your best."

"Yeah! You'll get another kiss from Mio if you win!" The drummer was then silenced with a first to the throat.

"Shut up!" Mio said as she looked away.

"If I win..." Keima gathered his courage for the next few words in his sentence.

"...would you go out with me, Mio?"

He said with a smile as he tried to not mess this up. He glanced at the girl as he waited for her answer.

Mio froze at the question. "K-Keima kun? Its so sudden! I mean, I.." She covered her face as she began to blush uncontrollably.

Ritsu glanced at him as she held up a thumbs-up sign. "NICE."

_"Keima-kun and I on a date?"_ She thought as she dug her face into her lap.

"Hagane and Aoyama, please proceed to the shooting line for the gold medal match." Keima glanced at the judges' tables as he heard the announcement.

"Wish me luck." Keima said as he took his equipment and went to his last match. Mio watched his back as he walked away from the benches.

* * *

Keima stood tall as he glanced downrange. The last match was determined by the total score of three arrows only. The blue eyed boy glanced at him as the match was about to start.

"Let me show you the gap in our skill." He said as he kept his right hand on his waist.

"You'll see it soon enough." Keima glared at him. "Don't rush your defeat."

Ritsu and Mio hurriedly came closer to the two to cheer Keima, but as they drew near, they noticed something different about him. An aura of calm and concentration came from Keima as he kept one hand on one of his arrows.

"Kick his ass, stalker-san!" Ritsu screamed as Keima glanced at the two.

He gave the two a nod as the whistle was blown, indicating the start of the match.

Keima took a deep breath as he raised his bow to draw. Closing his left eye to aim, he pulled at the string and anchored his drawing arm under his jaw. The colored target paper at the target mat was all he had in his mind.

"Click." After a weak clicking sound, he let loose the string and the arrow flung towards the target. A few moments later, The blue eyed boy fired his arrow too.

"Hagane, 9. Aoyama, 10." The announcer said.

"Keep it up, Stalker-san!" Ritsu said as Mio tried to calm her down.

"Don't distract him! He's already down by one point.." Mio timidly said as she looked on at the two, hoping Keima would recover from his disadvantage,

The two boys went through their cycle of inhale-draw-shoot again. "Hagane, 9. Aoyama, 9."

Keima was starting to lose concentration as he was feeling the fatigue of the tournament. The blue eyed boy laughed. "Not bad. Sadly, your determination can only get you this far."

"Don't listen to him!" Ritsu screamed again. "Don't let that douche beat you!"

Mio kept quiet all the while as she remembered what Keima said to her in the fire.

"_Don't give up so easily!" _

"Keima-kun! If you win..if you win, I'll..." It took all her willpower to say what she was about to say.

"If you win, I'll go out with you!" The crowd glanced at Mio as she cowered behind Ritsu.

"So, please.. please win!" The crowd roared as they began to cheer Keima on as well.

Keima stood there petrified as he looked at Mio with shocked eyes. He snapped back to reality as the judges reminded them of the tournament.

The two shot their third arrow. "Hagane, 10. Aoyama, 9."

Ritsu and Mio jumped as they watched the two's score become even. This was the last arrow, and this would be the deciding factor in the game.

"Tch." The blue eyed boy said as he glanced at Keima. "I've underestimated you, Hagane."

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that, anyway?"

Keima sighed as he glanced at Aoyama. "Middle school, A long time ago."

The boy laughed as he glanced at Keima's arrows. "No wonder your gear looked familiar." The white fletches of his arrows glistened in the sun.

"You're the White Fang, aren't you?" Keima laughed. Its been a long time since he was called by that title.

The whistle sounded for the last arrow. The two put their all their focus in that last arrow.

"Hagane, 10. Aoyama, 9."

The crowd roared as the results were announced. "Match between Hagane and Aoyama, winner is Hagane, by one point!" Mio and Ritsu ran to Keima as he stood there on the shooting line.

* * *

After the tournament, the crowd dispersed and proceeded to the other events. As Keima packed up his equipment, Aoyama approached him.

"Hagane-san." Keima glanced back to see his former adversary bow down.

"I am honored to have faced off with someone like you."

"Eh. No need for the honorifics." He said as he scratched his head. The two girls watched in confusion as Aoyama stood up.

"As such, I would be honored if you would join our archery club. We need more people like you."

The two girls stopped as they heard Aoyama trying to recruit Keima. He was better off there, and he would fit in. What concerned them was if Keima joined, he would probably leave the light music club.

"Thanks for the offer, but..." Keima then glanced at Mio and Ritsu. "..I've already found a club. I could help you guys out in trainings, though."

"As expected." Aoyama said as he stood straight. "I'll see you again, White Fang." With a nod, he left the range, leaving only the three at the benches.

"Ooh. White Fang, eh?" Ritsu said as she picked up the bag of equipment. "How mysterious."

Mio kept silent all the while. Keima won against the archery club, so she had to fulfill what she screamed earlier.

_"If you win, I'll go out with you!"_

"I'm gonna go freshen up at the fountains for a while." Keima said as he wiped the sweat off his face.

* * *

"This feels good!" Keima said as he splashed the water on his face. That was a long and tiring day for him, and the feeling of the cool water relaxed him.

"Congratulations." He glanced behind him as the voice surprised him. "I watched your game."

Behind him was Azusa, carrying a bentou box. He knew what this was all about.

"Thanks." He said as he scratched his nose.

"This is for you." Azusa shoved the box into his chest. "I won't take no for an answer, so forget about refusing."

Keima sighed. "You know that I like Mio, So why-" He stopped as Azusa smiled at him.

"I told you that I won't give up, right?" She then clasped her hands behind her.

"And if you really like Mio-senpai.." She then glanced at Mio and Ritsu as they came out of the range. "..you'd better start planning for your date. Girls don't like waiting, you know." Keima stood there silent as Azusa laughed at his reaction.

"Try not to do anything stupid." She said as she started walking away.

"If you two don't hurry up, I'm going to steal you from Mio-senpai!" She said as she stuck her tongue out.

Keima laughed as he watched the girl run off, before he made his way back to the other two. That was a very tiring week. But they managed, eventually.

Azusa kept running as she wiped her tears with her arms. "...don't waste your chance, Mio-senpai."

* * *

In the next chapter:

Battle plans! Keima starts planning his date with Mio. Also, a person from Keima's past arrives!


	9. Chapter 9: Preparations

Hello again guys,

Now that its almost Halloween (well, its 12 mn, October 31 here in the Philippines anyway), I wanted to do something more of a paranormal-themed chapter. I've been watching a few of the ghost documentaries on Discovery Channel and on the net, and now I can't sleep.

Anyway, for those who read my story, thanks much. I hope you'll follow my story to the end.

Without further adieu, here's Chapter 9.

Disclaimer: I do not own, and I do not claim to own the series K-On!, though I wish they were real.

* * *

Chapter 9

* * *

A young man stepped out of the train car on that bright Sunday morning. He had shoulder length gray hair, which complimented his dark colored clothing. Seeing he had already arrived where he needed to be, he proceeded out from the station. He carried in his back a guitar case which had the sticker "CT".

That morning, Keima got up early. He was supposed to go to the Music Room, since he had to practice for the upcoming music festival. He personally asked Ritsu to ask their adviser to allow them to use the room, and fortunately, she agreed. Keima wore a hoodie over his shirt, as well as ankle length pants. Since it wasn't that cold, he took out his favorite pair of sandals and made his way to the school. Figuring he could probably get some practice, he brought along his ever-faithful Washburn T12.

Meanwhile, at the music room, Azusa was the first one to arrive at the school. There was no classes at the moment, so the entire school was deserted. They had it all for themselves.

Azusa sat down on the room's bench as she stared at her guitar. She'd been practicing for the better half of the week, driven by one purpose – to impress a certain someone. Her fret fingers were bandaged, a sign of too much practicing. She didn't mind, though.

A knock on the door made her snap out of her trance. She glanced at the door and waited for whoever was there to enter. A second knock made her realize that the person on the other side of the door wasn't a member of the club. Quickly, she opened the door to see a boy, slightly taller than her, stand at the doorway. This looming figure was intimidating, making her stumble back a few steps as she kept quiet. The figure stared at her with piercing eyes as he entered the room. Azusa backed away and hoped that someone, anyone would come soon.

* * *

Keima walked up the stairs and walked towards the Music room when he saw the doors partly open. As he entered the room, he saw Azusa standing at the end of the room, looking worried. "Hey, where's-"

But before he could finish his sentence, a hand darted to his throat. He was barely able to react when the hands owner pinned him to the wall. Keima coughed as he struggled to break free from the grip. He opened his eyes to see the white haired boy. His eyes widened as he tried to speak. "..You!"

"Feels good to see me, Keima-chan?" Keima drove his foot into the boy's stomach, sending him to the floor. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Azusa watched in horror as the boy quickly stood up and charged at Keima, sending both of them down the stairs. "Keima-kun!" She screamed as she followed the two. Just who was that guy, and what did he have against Keima?

Keima and the boy was lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. As the boy struggled to stand up, Keima sat up and laughed. "You crazy son of a..." The boy stared at the ceiling and began to laugh as well. "You still fight like a girl, Keima-chan!"

Azusa stared at the two, confused. "Eh?"

* * *

The two boys finally fixed themselves as they sat on the bench in the music room, and on the other bench, sat Azusa.

Keima grimaced as he touched his aching jaw, as he landed on it as he fell from the stairs. "What a very nice way to greet a friend. What's wrong with you?"

The boy laughed as he brushed his hair with his hands. "My bad! I thought you'd still be able to avoid my ambushes, like back then."

"But your ambushes are more harmless back then." Keima said as he glanced over to his bass, was lying on the floor. "Plus, you even made me drop my bass!" He then stood up as he gave the boy one strong slap to the back. "You're gonna have to take responsibility for the damages, man!"

"I know, I know!" The boy said as he glanced at Azusa, who was quietly watching him.

"Ah. I forgot to introduce myself." The boy then stood up as he brushed the dust from his shoulders.

"I am the ever awesome and dependable guitarist of the band Casualties, Shou Takeru!" He announced as he posed in an awkward manner. Azusa giggled as she glanced at him. Keima sighed as he patted Shou's head like a dog. "Good boy."

"Casual...ties?" Azusa said in wonder.

"My former band." Keima said as he picked up his guitar.

"Shou, this is Azusa, one of my fellow club members at the light music club."

Azusa's face lightened up as she was slowly learning more about Keima's past. "Really?" She said to Shou in an eager voice.

"Yeah, you should have seen Keima back then." Shou said as he glanced at Keima, who was picking up the wreckage of his guitar. "So you decided to resume your career in music, eh?" Keima ignored the boy as he picked up his guitar bag. What he saw as he opened the bag almost made him jump.

Keima's bass was damaged in many parts – the impact of him getting pinned to the wall shattered the bridge and cracked the neck of the guitar. This was a big problem for him, as this was too impossible to repair.

"Goodbye.. my guitar.." Keima said in a weak voice as he sulked in the corner.

* * *

Half an hour has already passed, and no one else has arrived for practice.

"I'm going to go home for a while... and bury my guitar.." Keima said in a depressed voice as he left the room. Azusa sighed as she glanced at Shou, who was poking at the aquarium.

"Why'd you do that?" She said curiously. "Because of what you did, now Keima-kun's bass is broken!"

Shou gave her a blank stare before he returned to poking the glass. "..No apparent reason.."

Azusa was irritated by his answer, and was about to erupt in rage, but what Shou said next made her pause.

"..Keima has many painful memories with that guitar." Shou said in a weak voice as he continued to prod the aquarium. "The least I could do as a friend is to help him move on, using what I think is the best way." Shou sighed as he lifted the guitar case he was carrying and placed it on the nearby guitar stand. "When Keima comes back, tell him I'm giving him this bass guitar as replacement for his old one."

"Wait!" Azusa said as Shou was about to leave. The boy glanced back at her.

"I know I might be intruding, but.." She clenched her fists. "..I want to know more about Keima-kun!" Shou approached her, and stood a few steps away from her.

"You really are short, aren't you?" He said as he patted Azusa on the head, totally ignoring her earlier question. "Eh?" The girl blushed in embarrassment as she tried to slap him, but Shou stepped a bit back, making her miss.

"Hoho. You can't even reach me from there." Shou said as he watched Azusa turn red from anger. "..You!" She said as she stood her ground.

"Why would you want to know more about that loser, anyway?" He said as he dug his hands into his pockets. "He's rash, irresponsible.. oh, and there was this one time where he didn't take a bath for one week, and-"

"You're wrong!" Azusa screamed as she interrupted Shou.

"He's not like that.." She said as she looked down. "The Keima-kun I know is better than that. He's supportive of his friends, he's approachable, he's a good shot in archery, he could play the bass quite well too!.. and there are times when he has a unique air about him...and..." Azusa stopped as ran out of things to say.

Shou then interrupted her train of thought. "So, you like him?"

Azusa nodded as she stayed silent.

* * *

Keima entered his room and placed his now unusable guitar on its stand. Diving into his bed, he let out a sigh. In a few moments, his phone began to ring, Picking it up, he glanced and saw a message.

_"Stalker-san, have you planned for your date?"_ It was Ritsu.

Keima froze as he remembered what Mio said to him the day before.

_"Not yet. Don't know what to do."_ Keima pressed in his message as he waited for a reply.

_"Oh. Better hurry planning, Mio's all excited about it. Haha."_ Was the reply he got from the drummer.

Keima dug his head in his pillow. After a few minutes of loafing around, the boy left his house again to check out the nearby possible date spots.

He stood there on the corner of the intersection across the local movie house. All there was there were action movies, an old documentary and a few horror movies. Knowing Mio, she wouldn't like any of those. Scratching his head, he walked off to his next destination.

* * *

"I met Keima during our middle school's club festival." Shou said as he sat down on the benches near the field. Azusa was sitting next to him as they stared out into the grass.

"He got interested in forming a band, so we got together with some of my friends, and before we knew it, Casualties was practicing for their first gig." Azusa glanced as the boy as he seemed to smile from reminiscing.

"Oh my, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic myself." He then turned to Azusa. "What about you, little one? How did you get to know Keima?"

"Little one?" Azusa blushed as she angrily pounded on Shou's shoulder. The boy laughed as he waited for her to calm down. "Sorry, sorry. Just joking."

Azusa puffed her cheeks as she turned away from Shou.

"I met him when he rescued one of my band mates, and got injured."

"Ooh. So Keima-chan's a hero now?" He smirked as he looked at the sky. "I remember one time when he almost jumped out the window because of a flying cockroach." Azusa tried to contain her laughter, but ended up snorting. That made Shou laugh.

"Wow, you sounded like a piglet."

"Eh?"

"There there, piglet." Shou said as he patted her shoulder.

"Shut up!" Azusa said as she swung her arm to hit Shou. Shou laughed hard as he stepped away from Azusa.

"You mad?" He said in a teasing face. Azusa now was shaking from anger.

"Get back here!"

Shou laughed as he ran away from Azusa. Deep inside, Azusa felt better, now that she had a chance to get Keima, thanks to Shou.

"You won't catch me like that!" Shou said as he continued running. As he looked back, Azusa was getting closer and closer. They were only a few feet away, when Azusa tripped over,

"Ah!" The girl fell flat to the ground.

Shou stopped as he glanced at Azusa, who was grimacing from her fall. It appears as if she hurt herself from the fall.

"Hey," He hurriedly went back to the girl. "Are you alright?"

Seeing this, Azusa smiled and leaped towards Shou, toppling him over to the ground.

"I got you." She said as she gasped for air. Azusa was directly over Shou, who was pinned to the ground my the girl. Azusa rolled over to the ground as she laughed. Shou sat up and glanced at her.

"Your knee." He pointed to her bleeding knee, she appeared to have scraped it when she stumbled earlier.

"Don't worry, its alright.." She said as she tried to stand up, but grimaced as she stumbled down again.

Shou stood up and sighed. "Here." He said as he held out his hand to Azusa and pulled her up.

"Lets go find something to cover that."

* * *

Keima took a lick from his Ice cream cone as he sat by the amusement center. About him were many couples. That looked like a good place to date someone, only problem was, there were too many people there during weekends. They probably won't enjoy themselves.

"Amusement center." He glanced at his notebook as he wrote a big X.

The boy sighed as he stood up to leave. "What now? I can't screw this up!." He said as he decided to look for more places.

"I wonder what Mio's thinking right now..."

* * *

Mio sneezed as she continued on practicing on her bass. She glanced at the tabs and lyrics she downloaded. On top of the page was written: "Melt".

_"Ritsu, can I choose and dedicate one of the songs for the music festival?" Mio said as she walked beside the drummer._

_"Eh? Sure. But, why?" Ritsu said as she slung her bag over her shoulder._

_"Nothing in particular.."_

She looked at the lyrics and tried to sing it.

"Melt, I'm about to melt." She sang as she tried to play the bass at the same time.

"I can't tell you that I like you, but.." She stopped singing as her heart started to pound in her chest.

"Ah, I can't do this!" Mio sprawled on her bed as she hugged her guitar. "Its ok if it was just another song for a performance, but..." The girl stopped as she thought of Keima. "..this is different."

"No," She shook her head as she sat up to continue practicing. "I have to do this!"

"I have to do this for him.."

* * *

Keima sneezed as he made his way back home. "Huh?" He paused as he glanced around the street. He has been drifting around the city, and now he was surrounded by ice cream stands and cafes.

"Keima!" He glanced back to see Shou walking with Azusa. "Hey."

"What happened to you?" Keima said as he pointed to Azusa's bandaged knee.

"She stumbled when she was chasing me for picking on her." Shou said as she patted Azusa's head. "She's fine now, she's a brave girl." He teasingly said, treating the girl like a kid.

Azusa kept quiet as she stuck her tongue out at Shou.

Shou laughed as Keima glanced at him. "It was nice seeing you again, man."

"Yeah. If only the others were here too, we could reunite our old band, eh?"

Keima just smiled at the thought. "That would be nice."

"I'll be staying in town too, since I'll be studying here." Keima's eyes widened as he heard those words.

"I thought you were already in college?"

"I'm only 17, you know." Shou said. "You were 2 years my senior, right? I'm not as old as I look you know."

"Where will you be studying?" Azusa asked as she joined in the conversation.

"Eh. That school." He said, pointing in the direction of Keima and Azusa's school.

"What?" Keima reeled in shock. "I'm gonna have to endure being with you again?" He said jokingly.

"Tough luck Keima-chan." Shou said as he punched him in his shoulder.

Keima said his goodbyes to the two as he went on home. Shou glanced at Azusa who was still looking at Keima. "Hey. Wake up."

"Shou-kun.." Shou stopped as the girl called out to him. "..has Keima-kun fallen in love before?"

"Well...no. He was too busy doing other things." The boy said as he glanced back at her. "Once he decides to do something, its hard to change him, that's all I can say. If he does begin to like someone, though, it would be hard to take his focus off that person."

Azusa let those words sink into her as she stood there on the street. Shou went away towards one of the stalls as he let Azusa there for a moment.

"I won't give up!" She said in her mind. She was surprised as a hand bumped her back.

"Strawberry." Shou said as he handed her a cone if ice cream. Azusa stared at the boy as he himself held a cone of ice cream. "Its my favorite flavor."

"Thanks.." Azusa took the cone and looked at Shou. The boy noticed this and looked back at her.

Shou squinted his eyes. "What?"

Azusa became conscious of herself and looked away. "Eh. Nothing." She caught sight of those UFO machines, where you had to operate a crane to get stuffed toys. "Hey, look at that!" She said excitedly as she went over to the machine. "This?" Shou said as he went closer. "This one's real easy. No challenge."

"I'd like to see you try, then." Azusa said as she licked her ice cream.

"Really now?" Shou said as he approached the machine.

The two ended up spending the entire afternoon together, while trying to irritate each other. Azusa felt comfortable with Shou, but deep inside, she wished Shou was him instead.

In the next chapter:

* * *

Mio and Keima finally go out on their date. Will everything go as planned? An odd accident happens, placing Shou and Azusa in trouble. How will they get out?


	10. Chapter 10: Double trouble

Hello guys,

Many thanks to those who follow my story. I get my motivation to write whenever I feel that someone's waiting for the next chapter.

I personally found this chapter interesting. I hope you enjoy it.

Here goes. This is Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, the series K-on!

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

It was already Saturday, most students would be sleeping soundly until late in the morning, since there was no school. This was supposed to be the day where one would wake up feeling their best. But for Shou, though, this Saturday was an exception.

Shou woke up at 3 in the morning as Keima was frantically trying to call him. As he answered the phone, a crazed boy started blabbering out gibberish as he tried to say something.

"Hey, Hey, Hey." Shou said as he tried to summon enough willpower to talk sensibly despite his state of drowsiness. "Calm down for a few seconds."

"_I can't calm down, dude! I'm going on a date with Mio later, I can't sleep!"_ Keima said on the other line. He had a weird voice, which Shou couldn't tell if it was from excitement, fear, nervousness or something else.

"Alright." Shou said in a groggy voice as he yawned. "..do you have a plan for the date?"

"_Yeah."_

"And do you have something nice to wear?"

"_Yeah."_

"And does she know that this is **a** date?"

"_Of course! What kind of a question is that anyway?"_

Shou cleared his throat as he replied. "Then you're set. Good luck with your life."

"_..But!"_

"You'll be fine, big boy. Just be confident and be yourself." Keima seemed to stay quiet as Shou waited for his reaction.

* * *

_"Good luck on your date. Make me proud."_

Keima put down his phone as he glanced at his clock. It was only 3:37 in the morning. He was fidgety, he was uneasy. Letting out a sigh, he sat up and thought about what might happen later.

* * *

A few days ago

* * *

"Eh?" Mio almost tripped on the pavement as Keima reminded her of their date.

"Well, if you don't want to, Its alright." He said as he scratched his nose.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Mio said as she started to panic.

"Its just.. I didn't thought you would take it seriously." She said as she looked away from Keima.

"Are you free this saturday?" Keima said as he continued the conversation.

"Yeah." Mio smiled as she glanced back at the boy. She didn't seem to feel shy anymore at that moment. Instead of the usual shyness, she felt warm and fuzzy.

"Ok then. Its a date!"

* * *

Present - morning

* * *

Ritsu sighed as she watched Keima rolling on the floor back and forth. It was already 7:30 in the morning, and Keima was still awake. Knowing that his big date with Mio was looming close, Ritsu decided to pay Keima a little visit, as she and the other members of the HTT decided to play wingmen, or in their cases, wingwomen to the couple.

"I had a feeling you would be tense, but not **this **tense." She then set her foot on Keima's chest to make him stop moving,

"Get a hold of yourself, oi."

Keima stared at the ceiling as the drummer pressed her foot on him. "Do you think I'll be alright?"

Ristu gave Keima a stomp, which made him fully awake instantly.

"So what if you mess it up?" Ritsu said as she pulled up Keima from the floor. "..as long as you think you can fix it, you'll definitely fix it!" Keima paused as he listened to his own words coming out of another person's mouth.

"Show her what you're made of, White Fang!" She said as she poked his forehead.

Keima nodded at her, with a renowned air of calmness about him.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that same time, the other division of the HTT wingwomen were at Mio's place, helping her prepare.

"No way!" Mio screamed as she backed away from Sawako.

"But this looks good on you, dear!" Sawa-chan said as she held up one of her personally made costumes. "With this, anyone will fall for you instantly!"

"If Keima likes exhibitionists, that is." Yui said as she sat down on the floor.

"Why not pick something you're comfortable in?" Mugi said as she took a look at Mio's closet.

"Its not how you look that's the most important in a date, its how you two enjoy the moment together." After a few moments of looking, Mugi pulled out a simple buttoned white blouse. "This fits you."

Mio approached the mirror as she placed the dress in front of her, taking a look at how she would look.

"Keima kun's gonna fall head over heels for you now!" Sawa whispered in her ear, which made her jump in surprise.

* * *

The time: 8:30 am

* * *

Keima finished taking a bath and put on his corduroy pants and a turtleneck shirt, and on top of that was a white jacket. Ritsu watched him as he stood there in front of the mirror.

"How do I look?" He glanced at Ritsu.

"Wait." She looked around Keima's mirror and picked up one of his colognes. "Hold still."

Ritsu sprayed a bit of cologne directly in front of Keima, then pushed him into the scent cloud.

"There, that should do it."

"Thanks, man." Keima said as he gave Ritsu a high-five.

"I'm a girl, you know." Ritsu recluctantly responded to his gesture.

"Anyhow. Good luck out there, stalker-san!"

* * *

Mio blushed as she looked at herself at the mirror. She wore a white blouse and a pink skirt, along with her favorite doll shoes.

"Wow." - was all the three girls were able to say upon seeing Mio.

"Isn't this a bit too much?" Mio shifted as she didn't want to attract too much attention.

"Nonsense. Here," Yui took a small flower barette and placed it on Mio's hair. "There!"

"You look beautiful, Mio!" Mugi clapped her hands as she watched Mio.

"Now.." Sawako said with evil eyes. "..if you can't be good, be safe!"

Mio's eyes widened as she realized what that meant. Flustered, she took her bag and prepared to leave.

"As if that would happen!"

"Have fun, Mio-chan!"

* * *

The time: 9:00 am

* * *

Keima hurriedly made his way to the train station as he tugged along his sling bag. As he reached the station's lobby, he glanced at his watch. It was 9 oclock sharp. He glanced around as he tried to look for Mio.

"Keima-kun!" Keima turned and saw Mio. He stood there dumbfounded for a few moments as she neared him. "So, where do we go?" She said cheerfully as she kept her hands behind her back. Keima was unable to do anything but stare at her. At exactly that moment, he knew for sure that he was attracted to her.

"Um.." Mio said as she became conscious of Keima's staring. "..is there anything wrong?"

Keima snapped out of his trance and laughed. "Oh. Nothing! Its just that.."

"..you're really pretty today." Keima said without thinking. Mio gasped as she began to turn red.

"Shut up! Don't tease me!" She said as she punched the boy on his shoulder.

"I'm not, really!" Keima started to laugh as he tried to block her attacks.

Mio puffed her cheeks as Keima continued to laugh at her.

"So, where do we go?" Mio said as she looked at Keima.

"To the sea." Keima said as the train arrived at the station.

"T-the sea?" Mio said in shock. She wasn't really prepared to swim, all dressed like that.

"I can't go to the sea!"

"It'll be fine, come on!" Keima said as he took her hand and led her to the train.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the distance, Azusa kept watch over the two through her sunglasses.

"I don't know what you're trying to do..." She jumped as a voice behind her whispered into her ear.

"...but I'll tag along, just in case you do something stupid." Shou said as he nibbled on a piece of bread.

"What are you doing here?" Azusa said as she tried to stay incognito by hiding behind a nearby telephone booth.

"What are **you** doing here?" Shou redirected the question at her. Azusa kept silent as the boy leaned closer to her. "You're not possibly after Keima again, are you?"

"T-that's none of your business!"

"Eh. The train's leaving." Shou said as he pointed to the loading platform, where the PA announced the train's departure.

"Oh no, I haven't bought tickets!" Azusa frowned as the train began to give its last call for the passengers. But her distress disappeared when the boy brought out two tickets from his pocket.

"Huh?" Azusa was suddenly dumbfounded. Shou sighed as he grabbed Azusa's arm and began to head for the trains. "Come on."

* * *

The train headed for the coast, where a seaside amusement park was located. Keima remembered it from his travels in his past, and thought of it as a nice place for a date. There weren't that many people here since it wasn't vacation season, so it wouldn't be much of a hassle.

"Here we are." Keima said as he leaned his back on the railing of the walkway overlooking the sea. "How do you like it?"

Mio leaned on the railing beside Keima as a breeze brushed her hair. "It feels nice!" The scent of her hair drifted to Keima, which made him distracted.

"So where do we go first?" Mio said as she glanced at Keima. This was her first date with a boy, so she decided to let Keima lead the way.

"Hmm." Keima glanced at the nearby haunted house. "How about there?" He said with a smile, but as he looked at Mio he decided not to continue.

"I guess not, huh?" He laughed as Mio stood there with her eyes turned white.

* * *

"Where are we?" Azusa said as she dragged Shou out of the train.

"Beats me." He said as he continued eating bread.

"Where's Keima-kun?" The girl frustratingly said as she tried to look around the area for any sign of the two.

Shou looked to his left for a few minutes, then glanced to the right, before looking back at Azusa.

"I think we got off at the wrong station."

The two stood outside the train station and glanced over a far-stretching field. No immediate body of water can be seen.

"I don't think they'll be having fun on a date in the middle of a ricefield."

* * *

The time was now: 2:3o pm

* * *

For the rest of the morning, Keima and Mio went around the stalls of the park, trying to waste their time. Mio challenged Keima to a game of air hockey, to which Keima lost again and again. Keima, in his quest for revenge, challenged her at a hoop-shooting booth, to which he lost too. Mio then challenged him at a fish-catching booth, to which Keima lost again.

Keima sulked as they sat down on one of the benches near the docks. "3 – 0" Mio gloated as she poked fun at her date. "I want a rematch." He said as she took out a box from her bag. "Don't bother."

"I must restore my honor! I want a rema-" But before he could finish his sentence, Mio shoved a slice of sandwich in his mouth, seemingly taken from the box.

"Eat up before you go on your quest for vengeance." She smiled as she kept the box on her lap.

Keima calmed down as he took a bite out of the sandwich. "This is good. Did you make this?"

Mio nodded as she noticed some crumbs of bread sticking on to Keima's jaw. "Wait."

She held out a piece of tissue and wiped the crumbs off Keima's face. The two stopped as they realized what was happening. Mio suddenly laughed.

"I wonder what will happen in the music festival.." She then took a piece of the sandwich herself and began to eat. "There's a few days left for practice."

Keima placed his hands on the bench as he stared off into the sea. "It'll be fine."

Mio glanced at him as he kept his gaze out to the water. "You think?"

"Just a feeling, I guess.." He said as he continued eating. "You've been practicing hard, right? Then there's no need to worry."

Mio smiled as she heard those words. She just hoped her practicing would really be enough for the music festival, and for that song.

* * *

Shou and Azusa stepped out of the train for the third time that day, but still wasn't sure where their target was, and no idea to where they were, even.

Azusa sighed as she took out her wallet. "I spent almost half of my savings just for the train rides."

Shou glanced around again and looked down at the nearby boardwalks.

"I think they could be here." The boy said as he looked out into the nearby Ferris' wheel.

Azusa's eyes widened as she glanced at the park. "An amusement park! I haven't been to one in a long time!"

The boy glanced at the girl as he stretched his arms. "Well, since we're here already, why don't we enjoy this?"

"Eh?" Azusa shyly glanced at Shou. "..wouldn't this look like.."

"..a date?" Shou interrupted her as she flustered. "Lets just use that as our cover, just in case they find us."

"Well?" Shou said as he held out his hand. "Partners?"

"Hmph." Azusa reluctantly took his hand, and the two wandered off to the park.

* * *

The time was now: 4:oo pm

* * *

Keima and Mio stumbled upon an old building on the outskirts of the park. The building was old and dilapidated, possibly an old warehouse. It was huge and spacious, but that made it creepier, as the ocean breeze produced a howling sound as it swept the building.

"Looks interesting." Mio's eyes widened as Keima said those words.

"No."

"Eh?" Keima said as Mio glanced at the building with a worried look.

"There's no way I'm going in there." She said as she crossed her arms.

"Hoho. I get it." Keima smiled as Mio gave him a confused look.

"You're scared." Mio blushed as she shook her head. "Am not."

"Then prove it." Keima teased Mio as he gestured her to follow him.

* * *

In the distance, Shou and Azusa hid behind some rocks as they watched the two from the far end of the cliff.

"Don't we look like stalkers now?" Shou complained as Azusa glanced at the two through her sunglasses.

"Nobody's watching anyway." Azusa moved around the rock to get a better view of the two.

But as she took one step on the rocks near the cliff, the slippery texture of the rocks made her lose her footing. Shou watched in horror as Azusa plunged to the waters below. "Kyaa!"

"AZUSA!" The boy screamed as he waited for her to surface. The coastline there was immediately deep, do she couldn't have died from the fall itself. It was just a 30 meter drop into the water.

"Dammit!" Shou sneered as he jumped into the water from the cliff.

* * *

Keima glanced behind as he heard someone calling Azusa.

"W-what's wrong?" Mio said as she began to get fidgety.

Closing the door behind them, Keima looked around the hallway. "It was just my imagination." He smiled.

The two continued along the hallway and entered a large hall, which looked like it was from those movies with a big ball, and everyone would dance in the middle.

"Wow." Mio said as she went into the middle of the hall. The setting sun shone in on the hall from the roof's glass panels, which lit up the place.

"This was an old hotel" He said followed her into the center of the floor. "I used to hear stories about this place when I was small. They said this was the sunset hall, and looked best when the sun was setting."

"Its beautiful!" Mio said as she looked at the roof.

"Not as beautiful as you, though." Keima said as he stood beside Mio.

Mio kept quiet as she blushed from the compliment. Keima then turned to her and held out his hand.

"What's a dance hall without dancing?" He said as he bowed, as if asking Mio to dance.

"B-but.. I don't know how.."

"Then I'll teach you." Keima took her hands and began to show her what he knew about waltz. Mio jumped as he held her hand, but softened up as they started to dance. The two continued to dance to a music only the two of them could hear. Mio began to laugh as she made mistakes, and would laugh even more when Keima did. Keima felt like he could go on dancing forever. Mio wished it would.

But as they moved towards one part of the floor, a loud creak echoed throughout the hall.

Before any of them could react, the floor under them gave out, sending them to the floor below.

"O Shi-".

* * *

Azusa coughed as she stirred back into reality. She was drenched and groggy. All she could remember was falling off the cliff. Looking around, she was in a cave of some sorts, but there was no way she could have drifted there on her own.

She glanced to her left and saw Shou, but her heart almost stopped when she saw blood dripping from his head.

"Shou-kun!" Azusa hurriedly tried to get to him, but she stumbled to the ground as she tried to get up. She was still hurt from the fall. She felt weak and cold, either it was from the accident, or from the fact that she was powerless to do anything to help.

The ocean breeze blew in the cave, making Azusa shiver from the cold. Seeing Shou unprotected from the wind, she struggled to get them to the sheltered part of the cave.

"Shou-kun, wake up!" She shook him in an effort to get him conscious, but to no avail. Starting to get sleepy, Azusa shook her head. She learned in class that in situations like this, you shouldn't sleep when you get sleepy. That was the first sign of hypothermia.

"No.. I.. I can't." She said as her eyes began to give out. It was cold, and she was tired.

But suddenly, a warm feeling engulfed her as she closed her eyes. Giving one last effort to stay conscious, she glanced beside her and saw Shou, grinning.

"I got you." He said weakly as he hugged her.

* * *

In the next chapter:

Cut off from all communication, how will the four get back to safety?


	11. Chapter 11: Lost

Hello guys,

Just finished Chapter 11. I decided to focus more on the Azusa x Shou pairing for now, since I ran out of ideas for Mio x Keima.

Anyway, please don't forget to review, positive or otherwise.

Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own the series K-on!

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

"Where am I?" Azusa sat up as she looked around. Everything was dark around her.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed from behind her catching her attention. As she turned towards the source of light, she saw Keima looking at her.

"Keima-kun!" Her face lit up as she hurriedly stood up and went towards him.

Strangely, as she got nearer to him, he started to turn his back on her and walk away. "Wait!"

Azusa broke out into a full sprint as she reached out for the boy. "Keima! Wait for me!"

As she continued running, the boy seemed to get farther and farther away. Seeing this, the tried to run faster, but ended up tripping.

Azusa glanced at the boy as she lay there in the darkness. "Why?.."

"Why won't you look at me?"

* * *

Shou glanced at the girl as she was delirious from her fever. Taking off his jacket, he placed it over her to get her warm, even just a bit. He was surprised when Azusa started to cry in her sleep. Sighing, he leaned on the cave's walls as he watched the moon rise over the horizon. "What's wrong with you, man?"

* * *

Mio slowly opened her eyes and was surprised to see herself lying down on an old sofa. The moon's light managed to reach the floor under the hall where they fell from. It was a steep drop, probably almost 20 meters. She looked around and saw many pieces of furniture, making the room seem like an abandoned lounge of some sorts. A huge pile of rubble barred the only exit out of the room. After a few moments, she began to notice something missing.

"Keima-kun?" She said in a shaky voice as she tried to look around for the boy. She was immediately filled with fear as soon as it sunk into her that she was alone.

"Keima!" Mio screamed out in frustration as she waited for a response from the boy.

"He couldn' have... left me could he?" She thought as she bit her lip. From the darkness behind her, a pair of hands suddenly covered her eyes.

"Kyaaaaa!" The scream echoed in the entire hall as Mio quickly gripped the arm behind her and threw whatever touched her into the floor with terrifying force.

Mio began to relax as she glanced at the person in front of her. It was Keima, and he was knocked out cold as he sprawled on the floor where Mio forcefully planted him.

"Keima-kun? Oh no.. Hey!" She hurriedly grabbed him by the collar and tried to shake him. "I'm sorry! I thought..." Keima responded with a groan as he grabbed his head and darted forward. Simultaneously, Mio tried to move in closer to check if he's alright.

In a cliche-ish moment, the two accidentally made their first kiss.

Keima froze as he realized what was happening. Mio moved back quickly as her heart began to pound in her chest. "W-was that.. was that.." She whimpered as she started to blush.

"A kiss?" Keima said in an entranced tone as he continued to stare out into nothingness. Not knowing what to say, he just kept his mouth shut.

The two kept silent as they kept their distance as Keima sat on the floor, and Mio leaned on the nearby bench. Breaking the ice, Keima laughed.

"What a very memorable first date, don't you think?" He said as he looked up to the glass roof.

"I won't forget this anytime soon, if that's what you mean." She giggled as she looked at the boy.

The evening breeze blew through the hall and into where the two were. Mio rubbed her arms as she shivered from the cold. Seeing this, Keima walked over to her and took off his jacket.

"Here." He said as he handed his white jacket over to her.

"How about you?" Mio said in a concerned voice. "You might get sick from the cold."

"Better me than you." He said as he sat down beside her, crossing his arms.

Mio put on Keima's jacket backwards, making the back part of the jacket cover her front. "Its still warm.." she thought. She glanced at Keima. Keima began to cough as he shivered. Mio sighed. Moving closer to Keima, she wrapped her arms around his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Eh?" Keima jumped as he felt the warmth of her face on his shoulder.

"Don't go all heroic on me again." Mio said as kept half of her face covered with the boy's jacket.

"Last time you did you almost cracked open your head."

"But the most damage I got was from absorbing your weight from the fall!" Keima then jumped as Mio pinched his arm.

"Idiot." She said as she looked away from Keima.

Keima sighed as he glanced at the blocked door. "Looks like we won't be getting out anytime soon. I tried to look for a way out, but the only way out's blocked."

"What do we do now?"

"We wait until morning, I guess. I can't contact anyone through my phone. The signal's pretty weak here." He said as he glanced at his phone.

"I'm scared." Mio said as she tightened her grip on Keima's arm.

"Don't be." Keima said with a reassuring smile.

"I'm here"

* * *

Azusa woke up feeling heavy. She felt her forehead and sighed. "Of all the times to catch a fever.."

"Enjoy your sleep?" Shou said as he glanced at the girl as he leaned on the cave walls.

Azusa's eyes widened as she rushed to the boy. "Your head! Are you-"

"I've had worse." The boy said as he wiped the blood off his face with a wet handkerchief.

"You, however.." The boy then said as he poked her forehead. "..are either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid to do what you did earlier."

Azusa turned red as she turned away. "What do you care? Nobody asked you to tag along anyway!"

Shou looked at her with a blank stare as he kept silent after hearing those words.

"Alright, since I'm not really needed here. I'll be going now." He said as he struggled to get up. Azusa was speechless as she watched the boy disappear into one of the many passages that were in the cave. "Good luck with your life." He said in the darkness.

"Shou?" She said after a few minutes. "Shou-kun?" There was no response.

"Hey, I was joking! Shou.." She struggled to stand up as she followed the boy. "Shou-kun!"

Her voice echoed in the cave as the waves were the only sound that she heard.

"Don't leave me alone..."

She fell to her knees as she realized that she was on her own. Sobbing, Azusa tried to pull herself together and get out of there.

"Idiot." Shou said as he patted her head from behind. "As if I'll really leave you to die here."

Azusa looked at him all teary eyed, not sure how to react to his words.

"You heard me." He said as he cleared his throat. "Besides, didn't I say earlier, I won't let you do anything stupid?" Shou held out his hand to the girl.

"Chasing after someone who already loves someone else.." Azusa said as she avoided Shou's eyes.

"..is there anything more stupid than that?"

Shou sighed as he gestured her to follow him. "At least I didn't let you do it alone."

Azusa paused when she heard those words.

"Come on, lets find your precious Keima."

* * *

The two made their way through the passages under the shore cliffs. With the cliff being all mossy and slippery from so much exposure to water, going back up through there would be suicide. Luckily, Shou managed to keep his phone functioning, even after being dunked in seawater. The girl followed Shou through the passages by following the faint light from the phone.

"Say.." Azusa said as she navigated her way through the cave's craggy floor. "..have you ever liked somebody before?"

"Of course I have." The boy said as he came across a fork in the tunnel. "I am young, and I am human, after all."

Azusa laughed. "I wonder what she looks like. I bet she's speaks weird too."

"..she's taller than you, that I'm sure." Shou said in a flat voice as he picked to to on the right path.

"Whatever." The girl sneered as she kept close to the boy.

The two continued on following the paths that Shou picked, which he hoped lead to the surface. They continued on for almost an hour, before Azusa started to weaken from her fever.

Shou helped her lean on to the tunnel's wall as he felt her neck and forehead for her temperature.

"This isn't good. You're burning."

"..sorry.." Azusa said weakly as she began to experience chilling.

"There's no helping it then." Shou turned around and glanced at Azusa. "..get on."

"Eh?" She said as she became flustered. "A piggy back ride?"

"If you don't want to die from that fever, then you'd better hurry up." Shou said as he looked away.

"Okay.." Azusa awkwardly got on Shou's back. "..be careful with me, alright?"

"Fine." Shou said as he stood up. "God, you're heavy."

"Hmph." Azusa puffed her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around Shou's chest.

Shou glanced around and saw a bit of light down the end of the tunnel. Figuring that's the way out, he walked his way towards it.

Shou walked out of the tunnel and looked around. It seems he made it out into the open. The cave's opening were surrounded by trees, and a path led towards a nearby building, seemingly the one where Keima and Mio went to earlier.

"Finally" Shou said in a weak voice as he continued walking.

Azusa's eyes widened as he realized that they were out of the tunnel. "You did it, Shou-kun!"

"Yeah.. I sure did.." He laughed as they neared the building. They entered a room with a few old cushions lying around. Shou set Azusa down on one of the cushions, before sitting down next to the wall beside her.

"We're pretty close to the train station..we should probably get home.."

"No! You should rest." She said as she pulled on the boy's arm.

"Nah, don't need it.." He said. "relax.." He slowly closed his eyes as he spoke.

Azusa thought it was just from exhaustion, but when she looked at him in the moonlight, she knew there was something wrong.

The girl quickly took the boy's phone and shone its light on him. Her eyes widened in shock at what she saw.

Shou was very pale, with blood still dripping from his head. She glanced around the room and saw a trail of blood leading from the outside, he was injured all along.

"No.." Azusa then shook Shou as she tried to keep him awake. "Why didn't you say you were bleeding?" She was beginning to panic.

"..'cause I don't want you to be scared.."

Azusa tried to look around for any piece of cloth that she may use as a bandage. Anything to stop the bleeding. It was her fault he got mixed into this in the first place, so it would stick with her for the rest of her life if he died.

"..come on.. I won't die like this.. chill out.." The boy said as he watched the girl search the room. Out of options, Azusa tore a part of her skirt and pressed the cloth into Shou's wound.

"Stop telling me to chill out!" She screamed as she continued to hold the pressure on the wound.

Later that evening, Shou'd bleeding eventually stopped. Azusa fell asleep on the cushions beside Shou, still gripping the cloth in her hand. Shou glanced at her as the moonlight lit her face.

* * *

In the next chapter:

As Azusa and Shou enter the same building as Mio and Keima did, will they meet each other? Also, the worried members of the light music club begin to get restless and search for their friends.


	12. Chapter 12: Hesitation

Hello guys,

Sorry for the delay of this chapter, been busy these past few days.

Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own, and do not claim to own the series K-on!

* * *

Chapter 12

* * *

The night passed, with the usually strong coastal breeze becoming calm as time inched itself towards morning. Mio and Keima fell asleep leaning on each other while sitting on the old sofa. The night was cold, but the two was able to sleep sound anyways. A few rooms away, Shou leaned on the wall while he slept on one of the cushions scattered around the room. Azusa fell asleep tending to his injury, and partly due to her fever too. The cold slowly crept into the room as night continued. The boy endured the cold and didn't mind, as he gave Azusa his jacket, since she needed it more than him.

The four eventually made it through the night in one piece.

Azusa slowly opened her eyes to the sunrise. Squinting her eyes, she glanced around the room to get a better view of where they managed to end up. Feeling her forehead, she noticed her fever has died down a bit compared to yesterday, much to her relief. Azusa then glanced at her hand and saw the bloodied piece of her skirt, reminding her of what she did yesterday.

"_..I didn't want to see you scared.."_

Azusa paused as she glanced at Shou, who seemed to be beginning to rouse from his sleep. For some reason, she was relieved he was still there.

"_At least, I didn't let you do it alone."_

She shook her head. She liked Keima – at least, that's what she knows. There was no way she would like someone she just met.

"_Come on, lets find your precious Keima-kun_"

And there was no way Shou would like her. He already said he had someone he likes, and even commented on that person being taller than her.

Sighing, she sat up and turned towards the almost awake Shou, placing her head on her hands as she leaned forward a bit.

"That someone you like," She said as the boy turned his eyes to her. "..is a very lucky girl."

"That someone.." Shou was apparently still drifting between the waking and the dream world.

"...is you." The words just came out of his mouth as if it was no big deal.

The sun began to shine inside the room's windows as the two just sat there. The sun's rays shone on Azusa's hair as it draped freely on her shoulders, no longer tied into pig tails. The sunlight blinded Shou as he finally woke up.

"What a weird dream." He said as he finally snapped back into reality.

Shou glanced as Azusa as she stared at him with a surprised look. She was all red as she gripped the cloth in her hand tightly. The boy stared at her for a few moments before finally remembering what happened.

Shou's eyes widened. "Crap. That wasn't a dream?" He said as Azusa looked to her side.

"Is..is that true?" She said as her eyes avoided meeting with the boy's. For all she knew, he could be just kidding again. Her heartbeat started to race as she waited the boy's reply. Closing her eyes, she waited for an answer. A few minutes passed and Azusa peeked at where Shou was, but he was not there.

Looking around, she saw the boy sneaking out to the other room. "Hey!" The boy jumped as he heard the girl's voice, and began to run away to escape. Azusa, surprised, picked herself up from the floor and hurried after him.

"Dammit!" Shou whispered as he tried to run across the other room. He still felt dizzy from his injury, so would stumble every now and then as he made his way through the room. He glanced behind him and saw the girl gaining on him. The boy went about the couches and began to tip over some of the chairs, just to make it hard for the girl to get to him. As he glanced around for an exit, he saw a nearby door, and made a break for it.

"Stupid. Why did I even.." He said under his breath as he grabbed the rusted doorknob and pulled it with all his might.

* * *

Keima was awoken by a sudden noise coming from the upper floors. He looked up to the hole in the ceiling and heard a familiar voice, though he could not recognize who it was.

"Hey, someone's here." He said as he nudged Mio, who was sleeping beside him. Mio squinted her eyes as she was blinded by the sunlight.

"Don't come any closer!" A male voice echoed throughout the hall.

"Stay put, you!" A female voice replied, and sounded like she was having a hard time.

"Shou?" Keima said in a confused voice.

"Azusa?" Mio blurted as she recognized the voice.

"What are they doing here?"

Keima glanced at a nearby table, walked up to it, then climbed up on it.

"Shou! Azusa! Help!" He shouted to the hole, hoping that they would notice them.

Mio followed suit as she put Keima's jacket over her shoulders.

"Azusa! Where are you?"

* * *

Shou paused for a while as he swore he heard Keima calling his name. Azusa saw this and took advantage of the situation as she ran at full speed towards him.

"I got you no-"

But before the girl could declare her victory, the boy held out his hand, which landed directly on her face and kept her at a distance from him.

"Quiet. I heard something." He said as he tried to focus on the weak voice that he kept hearing.

Azusa pushed his hands away from her face as she breathed heavily, seemingly tired from all the running.

He glanced over to a far away hole in the other end of the hall, where the sounds seemed to be coming from.

"Shou! Get your ass over here!" Keima screamed in frustration.

"Keima-kun!" Azusa said as she ran off towards the hole, leaving Shou where he stood. The boy watched Azusa's back as she went away from him. As he walked to follow the girl, he glanced down at the floor and saw a bloodied piece of cloth, the same one Azusa had earlier.

* * *

Mio and Keima glanced at the hole as Azusa looked down at them.

"Azusa! Thank goodness, where did you come from?" Mio was finally was able to relax.

"The exit here's blocked. Can you find anyone that could help up from here?" Keima blurted out.

"There's nothing here we could use to pull you guys up." Shou appeared beside Azusa.

"Maybe if you go back to the amusement park, you could call on someone to get us out." Mio said as she suddenly wanted to take back what she said. They aren't supposed to be allowed to go in the building in the first place, and they probably will be reprimanded when caught.

"Nah, I don't think that's necessary." Shou said as he glanced over to the nearby door, where a few security personnel was startled by their presences.

The four were found by the regular morning patrol by the management's security. It bothered Shou to no end as to why there were no night patrols, that could have saved them time. They were given no actual punishments for their trespassing, save for a long lecture from the head of the security that confronted them after being treated for their injuries. They were advised to stay in the infirmary for the day.

Keima didn't have any injuries, save for a headache. Mio was unharmed. The two who needed the most medical attention was Shou and Azusa. Shou had a scar on the side of his temple after the nurse cleaned his wounds. The doctor said he was lucky it didn't need any stitches. Azusa's fever would have almost worsened from hypothermia, good for her that she wasn't that exposed to the cold the entire night. As they were given a few medicines to help them recover, they were released and escorted by the authorities home.

* * *

Turns out that the other members of the light music club has already reported Keima, Azusa and Mio as missing persons, since they were gone almost the entire weekend. As they were dropped in their local police precincts, their worried friends rushed to see how they were. After the police told them what happened, they hurriedly met up with the four.

"Azu-nyan!" Yui cried as she hugged her tightly. "I thought you were dead!" Azusa cringed as the guitarist continued to squeeze her.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Ritsu bashed Keima's head with her hands. "Why didn't you at least try to contact us? We were worried sick!"

"It was an accident! I'm sorry!" Keima said as he reeled from the hit.

"Its not entirely his fault." Mio said in an effort to defend him "I agreed to go with him inside the house where we got stuck anyway, so I'm to blame too."

"Hoho. So did you do something there?" Sawako-sensei smiled as she stared at the two, implying something that Mio quickly understood.

"N-no! Absolutely not!" Mio said as she crossed her arms and turned away.

Keima kept silent as he finally understood what the teacher meant and watched the others continue to bombard Mio with embarassing questions.

Meanwhile, at a nearby bench, Azusa sat down and looked at the two. As soon as the others began to tease the two as a couple, she decided to just keep her distance. She kept her eyes fixed on Keima.

"You really are stubborn." She turned her head to her left, to see Shou standing behind her while looking at the same direction she was looking.

"I guess I am." She then glanced at Shou, who was nibbling on a sandwich.

"So why would you want to spend your time with this stubborn person?" Azusa raised an eyebrow to the boy.

"Just because." Shou said as he looked away. "Either its that, or I'm stubborn, just like you."

Azusa laughed as she heard the reply. "Stubborn just like me, huh?"

"Thanks for being like that."

* * *

In the next chapter:

With the music festival close at hand, the light music club makes their final preparations. Shou pairs up with Keima for a performance as the HTT eagerly watches. Will they meet the girls' expectations?


	13. Chapter 13: Performance

Hello guys,

Sorry for the long wait. Here's Chapter 13.

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, claim ownership to the series K-On!, or the song Starlight by the Muse

* * *

Chapter 13:

* * *

Shou closed the door as he exited his house. He squinted his eyes as the sunlight reflected from the nearby lake blinded him. The boy yawned as he began to make his way towards the train station. If it wasn't for Keima's request, he wouldn't be going out at this time of the morning.

_"Light Music Club?" Shou said skeptically as he spoke with Keima on the phone._

_"Yeah. Since you're in the same school, why not join? I need another guitar, you know."_

_"Then why not ask your clubmates?"_

_"There's no one else available. Come on, man, help me out here!"_

Shou groaned. "What a bother."

* * *

An alarm clock's ringing echoed throughout Keima's room as the sunlight slowly pierced the window's blinds. A hand darted out of the sheets and pounded the clock, making it stumble from the shelf and to the floor. Groaning, Keima sat up and wiped his eyes as he glanced at a guitar bag beside his bed.

_"Shou-kun said it was for you, for destroying your old bass."_

He sighed as he remembered the words that Azusa said as he recieved the bag. He hasn't opened it yet.

* * *

The boy set down his guitar case on the train's floor as he kept one hand on the rails to keep him from tipping over. This was too early for him to be going out from home, as she usually slept very late and woke up late. After 15 minutes, the train stopped at a station, and a familiar face stepped on the train car, along with a lot of other people.

Mugi glanced at the boy as she entered, and noticed the boy that was with Azusa the other day. Noticing that he recognized her, she went over to the boy.

"Good morning!" She said in her usual, calm tone.

"Uh. Good morning." Shou said as he held on tight to the rails as the train began to move again.

"I never got to know your name. Was that Shiro?" The pianist said as she tilted her head to the side.

"Its Shou. Takeru, Shou. You're one of Azusa's friends, right?"

"Tsumugi Kotobuki." She smiled. "But you can call me Mugi, everyone else calls me that."

Shou glanced at the girl as he swayed from the movements of the train.

"Pleased to meet you, Shou-kun!" Mugi kept her hands on the rails as well as she began to stumble about from the shaking train car. There were no more available seats, so they had to stand up.

Shou remained silent as the train continued on its course. Every now and then, he would glance at Mugi, and he would see her staring at her with that usual smile on her face. For the first few times, it was a fine for him, but as he glanced for the 7th time, it was creepy.

"Is there something on my face?" Shou said in the most calm tone he could manage.

"Nothing." She said, with the same smile plastered on her face. The boy shifted where he stood and looked on to the windows to the fast-moving scenery.

A few minutes later, he glanced back to see Mugi still staring at him, but now standing closer to him. He sighed as he looked away, hoping that she would go away soon. His patience for this kind of wierdness could only last so long.

The train shook as it encountered a bump, making Shou hit his head on the overhead bar of the train. After cursing a bit, he noticed the girl, still looking at him.

"Why are you staring at me?" The boy said in an irritated manner. Mugi chuckled as she watched the annoyed boy's reaction.

"Its just as Azusa said," She said as she leaned on the rails. "You have a calm facade."

Shou kept silent as he heard those words. "Azusa told you about me?" It made him curious to no end. There was no way that Azusa would make enough space for him in her head, not with the girl always occupied with Keima.

"Yes." Mugi watched him as his face changed from an emotionless, blank palette to a more interested expression. "..so, is there something you'd like to talk about?" The kept her smile as she waited for her attempt to fish out something from the boy. The two stayed silent as the train stopped to a grinding halt.

We are now at Station 3 of the train line. Please exit the cars in an orderly fashion.

The car suddenly went from jam packed to almost empty in an instant. As Mugi sat down to the seat beside Shou, the boy took the guitar bag from his back and placed it beside him as he took his seat beside the girl.

"Sorry, but I have nothing interesting to talk about." The boy said as the train began to continue on its course. Surely, he had an idea on what she was talking about. But he didn't trust her that much yet, for all he knew, she might sell him out if he decided to speak his mind.

Mugi nodded at the boy as she gazed out into the train's windows. She was a bit disappointed to see that her plan failed, but she had another trick up her sleeve. But that was for another time.

* * *

Keima yawned as he sat down on the school's rooftop. He made it through another normal schoolday in one piece, except for a few snags in his chemistry and literature classes. In his left hand was a guitar tuner, and on his lap was his new bass. Shou's gift for him quite gave him a shock – a hollow body Ibañez AFB 200 Electric Bass guitar. This was the first time Keima used a hollow body bass. As he finished tuning the guitar, a familiar face emerged from a nearby door.

"Just like the back then, huh? How bothersome.." Shou said as he walked towards Keima.

"Come on, didn't you always say you wanted to play as a band again?" The bassist said as he set aside his tools and leaned his guitar on the wall.

"I'm just saying that you should have picked a better spot to practice." The guitarist sighed as he began to unzip his guitar bag - revealing a red Epiphone Dot guitar. "That's why we all hated you back then. You pick the wierdest places to practice." Shou laughed as he took out his guitar.

"Its not like I have a choice. I have to keep this a secret from the others."

"How mysterious." Shou said sarcastically. "Well, I guess the faster we finish this, the faster I can get home."

"You still remember the chords and the song, right?" Keima said as he picked up a few sheets of paper beside his guitar. "If you don't I have the lyrics and the tabs-"

"Tabs are for the weak." Shou said as he slung his guitar over his shoulder. "All these years, and I thought you would have outgrown that habit."

"Geez. You're talking like I'm already old or something." Keima replied as he placed the papers back on the ground. "If you're set, we'd better start practicing. Girls don't like waiting, right?"

"Yeah whatever."

The overcast sky gave the school a gloomy and eerie feeling. As the two began to practice, the cold afternoon breeze swept the school's rooftops. The two remained unfazed by the cold as sounds of their instruments battled the weak howl of the wind.

* * *

Keima plugged his guitar to the Music room's bass amplifiers and began to check the tuning of his bass. After a few plucks on the strings, he turned to his partner. Shou plugged his guitar into an amplifier and strummed a few notes. The sound of his guitar echoed throughout the room as the girls looked on in awe at his guitar. What was more surprising was that Shou's guitar had a distinct sound that made it different.

"Wow." Yui said as she kept her eyes on Shou's guitar.

"A hollow body electric guitar and bass." Mio said excitedly as she kept her eyes on Keima's guitar.

"I wonder how it feels to use one.."

"The hollow body of the guitar enhances the sound made, and produces something that solid body guitars can't create." Ritsu said as she kept her ears focused at Shou's strumming. "that really is something."

Azusa kept her eyes on Shou continued on strumming. She was eager to see the two perform, as she had a feeling that they had more than meets the eye. Seeing this, Shou smiled eagerly and raised his right thumb at the girl.

Keima cleared his throat as he turned to face their audience. The girls were seated in a single row, with Mio, Ritsu and Yui on the bench, with Azusa and Mugi sitting on their chairs, which they pulled up beside the bench. The girls were quite surprised when Keima suggested that he make his own entry for the Club in the upcoming festival, since he didn't have anyone else who can team up with him. This was a test for him, that's what most of the girls thought, and they had their expectations.

"Hello guys, as you all know, I'm Keima. This guy," He said as he pointed to Shou. "...is Shou Takeru, the guitarist of my former band."

"Prepare to be awed." He said in a joking tone as he gave a thumbs up sign at Azusa. Keima sighed as he slapped the boy at the back of his head. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch. We haven't had practice in years, remember?" The girls laughed at the two as they continued to argue, unmindful of the eyes looking at them.

"Ready?" Shou said as he readied his pick. Keima nodded at the boy as he faced the music room's audience. The group of girls were eagerly waiting for them to start.

"This song's from a cd my dad brought from overseas." He said as he scratched his head. "The lyrics are in english, so pardon me if I don't pronounce the words right." He then started to play G on his bass.

"This is Starlight, from the English band Muse"

Keima continued on strumming G as Shou began to follow suit by playing the intro of the song. As the intro was about to finish, Keima stepped forward to sing.

Far away,

The ship is taking me far away,

Far away from the memories,

Of all the people who care if I live or die.

Mugi listened closely to the lyrics as she seemed to understand the song. The others wanted to ask her about the lyrics, but she gestured them to wait until they finish the song.

Starlight,

I will be chasing the starlight,

Until the end of my life,

I don't know if its worth it anymore.

Ritsu began to hum to the tune of the song. She couldn't fully understand the song, but it sounded good, at least. Azusa watched Shou's handwork as he played the riff for the pre-chorus.

Hold you in my arms,

I just wanted to hold,

You in my arms

Keima unconsciously glanced at Mio as he sang the chorus. Mio, who understood the lyrics, began to blush as she thought he was implying something. Yui saw this, and bumped the bassist's shoulder. "I think the song's for you, Mio-chan!"

My life,

You electrify my life

Let's conspire to ignite,

All the souls that would die just to feel alive.

Shou smiled as he continue to play the riff for that part of the verse. This was the first time in a while that he enjoyed playing the guitar. Since his band disbanded years ago, he never joined another band, and continued on practicing solo. Along with the sense of fulfillment he felt, there was also a bit of nostalgia. This was the same song they played as a band.

I'll never let you go,

If you promise not to fade away,

Never fade away.

The sound of Keima's bass and Shou's strumming resonated in the room, and was quite different from the usual genre of sounds that the light music club played. As the song progressed on, the girls felt they needed to respond to the song equally with another song. But that was probably for another time, as it was already getting late.

Hold you in my arms,

I just wanted to hold you in my arms

I just wanted to hold..

The amplifiers rang silent as the two finished their performance. Keima paused to catch his breath as Shou shook his strumming hand. The two looked at the girls, hoping to get a reaction, but was greeted with silence.

Mugi began to clap as she smiled. "That was a refreshingly interesting new sound."

Yui stood up and raced to Shou. "Guitarist-san! That was awesome!" Shou placed his guitar in front of him as he frantically tried to block Yui's attempts to give him a welcome hug to the club. Azusa smiled as she watched the two.

Keima glanced at Ritsu, who gave him an ok sign. It seemed that the light music club now had another band who could play in the coming local music festival.

After a few more minutes messing around and cleaning up in the music room, the light music club adjourned their meeting and headed home.

* * *

Mio and Keima walked home together again as usual, their bass guitars on their backs.

"I knew you were hiding something." She said teasingly, referring to his singing.

"I never said I can sing." Keima said as looked left and right as they crossed an intersection. In truth, he never liked singing – it takes his concentration off from playing the bass. In his former band, he only sang for backup vocals, but never the main one.

"You never said you can't either." She said as she crossed her arms and turned away.

Keima could only laugh as he watched Mio act like a kid. The two kept silent as they continued on walking along the sidewalk, until Mio suddenly glanced at him.

"That was a nice song..." Mio followed as she smiled. "I didn't get the entire song. But from what I understood, it was about a loved one, right?"

"Well, something like that." Keima said as he scratched his cheek.

The two crossed the street as the traffic light turned red. As they reached the other side, Keima stopped as he stared at a nearby store. Mio was surprised at the boy's sudden action.

"I haven't been to that shop in a while.." Keima said as he stared at a nearby bakery. A familiar face emerged from the shop's interior and waved at the two.

"Long time no see, eh, Keima?" Yuzu said as she watched the two come closer to the bakery.

"Good evening, Yuzu-san." Mio bowed as the shopowner nodded at her.

"Good evening too, Mio-chan." She then turned to Keima. "You should be more respectful of people, just like your girlfriend here." The shopkeeper said as she pointed to a dumbfounded Mio.

"G-girlfriend?" The girl said in an awkward tone.

Keima sighed. "Nice try. That joke's gotten old you know."

The baker laughed. "So, what brings you to my humble shop?"

"Nothing really. I guess I just missed the place." The boy said as he glanced at the repertoire of pastries that adorned the shop's trays. "I see your bread has evolved since the last time I saw them."

"They got better than before?" Yuzu said as she crossed her arms.

"Wierder that before, if you ask me." Keima said as he pointed his finger at an octopus-shaped bread.

"Those taste good, you know." Mio said as she slapped the boy in the back for being rude. "Where are your manners?" The boy just laughed and smiled at her comment.

"I heard the music festival in the nearby district is only a few days away." Yuzu said in an effort to stir up small talk.

"Yeah! Our club's joining in the festival, actually.." Mio said enthusiastically as she gripped the strap of her guitar bag.

"Really now? I'm looking forward to watching you guys there." Yuzu glanced at Keima, who was also seemed to be carrying his own guitar. "So this guy's performing too?"

"Yeah, you bet I am." Keima said as he gave her a thumbs up sign.

Yuzu paused a while as he eyed the boy from head to toe.

"That's surprising. You don't look like you're the performing type."

"If that's the case, then we'll work hard not to disappoint you." Keima said as he raised his fist in a gesture of determination. "Right, Mio-chan?"

Mio glanced at him as he had a strange fire in his eyes. The same fire that she saw in his eyes at the archery tournament. She felt glad.

"Yeah."

In the next chapter:

* * *

A meteor shower appears!


	14. Chapter 14: Shooting stars

Hello guys,

I've been busy at work and at school lately, so pardon me if the updates are too slow. T_T

I'll try my best to update as soon as I can during my vacant times.

Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim ownership to the series K-On!, or any other things that I might refer to in this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 14

* * *

Shou sighed as he leaned on the rooftop's railings. The sky was beginning to get dark on that windy friday afternoon, this was the same weather the city has been having for the past few days. But this day, of all days, is far from normal. This day was special.

_"Leonid?" Shou stared at Keima in wonder as the bassist drank his cup of tea._

_"Yeah. Apparently, there's a meteor shower this friday night." He said as clicked on his laptop to play a movie for the two friends to watch._

_"Meteor shower, huh? What does that have to do with anything?"_

_Keima then raised his arms over his head as he turned up the volume of the laptop._

_"I'm planning something.. romantic." He said as he glanced at Shou. The boy stared blankly at his friend upon for a few seconds as he digested carefully what Keima just said._

_"I don't roll that way, man. Though, I'll still accept you as a friend even if you're gay." Shou's words were met with a cardboard box to the face._

_"I didn't mean that, idiot." Keima said as he paused the video playing on the laptop to talk about his so-called plan._

_"I'm planning something for Mio." Keima said as he pointed to a map of the hills near the city. "I'm going to find the best spot to view the shower. Meteor showers don't happen everyday, you know."_

_"This Friday's gonna be special." Keima said._

Shou looked at his watch. It was already a few minutes before six. With a sigh, he shook his head and began to walk towards the door. Waiting for someone was quite the hassle, and what made it more of a waste of time was because the one he was waiting for never came.

As he reached for the door, the knob turned slowly, making him stop in his tracks. Shou stepped back and glanced at a familiar face as the door creaked open.

"I knew you would be here." Mugi said as she flashed her usual smile at the boy.

"Oh, you're the girl from the train." Shou said as he took his time to remember the girl's name.

"..Mugi, right?"

The girl nodded as she closed the door behind her. She gave Shou a long stare and noticed his annoyed expression.

"Anything wrong?" She said.

"You're weird." Shou said blankly as he made his way towards the door. Mugi stepped aside as Shou reached the doorknob. "..anyhow, I have to get home. Change of plans for a Friday night, I just finished torrenting Black Ops this morning, so if you'd excuse me.."

"She didn't come didn't she?"

Shou stopped midway. A soft sigh came out of the boy as he turned to face the pianist.

"Have you been stalking me around lately? Its getting creepy you know."

"Not really." Mugi laughed. "I just have... sources everywhere."

The shadows began to lengthen as the sun began to set on the rooftop as the two stood silent.

* * *

Keima kicked open his door as he arrived home. Within moments, he was out of his school uniform and into the bathroom. It took him long enough to get home, being suddenly sidetracked by one of his teachers about his nearly-flunking grades in chemistry. He shouted expletives in his mind – of all the days to be late, it had to be this one. This one, special day.

Within moments, the boy as out of the bathroom and in front of his closet. As he tore open the sliding doors, his enthusiasm was met with an avalanche of clothing. He clawed his way to a pair of jeans and a short sleeved shirt, which he seemed to be reserving for that day. For shoes, he picked up a pair of chuck taylors that he rarely uses. As he saw that his battlegear was complete, he whisked a bit of perfume in front of him before charging through the mist.

Seeing that all was set, he made his way out of the house and into the streets.

* * *

"I'm not even gonna ask how you got keys to this room." Shou said as he shook his head. The two were inside the Music room, even though it was way past the school curfew time. Shou slouched on his chair as Mugi poured tea for her and her guest.

"I duplicated the keys to this room when our adviser left the keys to me." She said cheerfully in an almost innocent tone.

"Isn't that... illegal?" The boy said in a blank tone as he wrapped his hand around the cup of tea.

Mugi laughed as she heard the boy's words. "Illegal? No! Of course not!"

"Though it could get us both expelled if we're caught." She continued with a smile.

Shou stared at her for a few moments before taking hold of his cup.

"I take it back. You're not weird..." He said as he pulled the cup to his mouth.

"..You're crazy."

Shou gagged as he took a sip from his cup. "Too hot for you?" Mugi said as Shou glared at her while in pain.

"..pretty much like Azusa, am I right?"

Shou paused as he watched Mugi place down the teakettle on one side of the table. Seeing how she already knew too much about him and Azusa, he might as well give up the veil of secrecy.

"This was supposed to be a special day, you know." Shou said in a frustrating tone as he scratched his head. "I asked her out, and she agreed!"

"Of all the days to not come, it had to be this day. And I don't even know why!" Mugi watched Shou let out a few gestrures of frustration at the air.

"Probably because she has her eyes fixed on someone else. Eh?" Mugi raised her eyebrow at Shou as the boy froze.

"Yeah. Most probably." The boy let out a sigh. "...what a bother."

"As with everything else in life," The pianist stared at the ceiling as she leaned back on her chair. "...the harder the struggle, the sweeter the victory."

"All I can see is struggle." Shou replied, sounding pessimistic.

"There there." Mugi smiled as she patted his head.

Without warning, the knob of the music room's door turned and swung the door open. The two glanced at the door to see Azusa, who was catching her breath.

"You.." Shou said as his face slowly brightened up. Maybe she did remember after all.

His joy was short-lived, though. The next words that came out her mouth wiped the smile off his face.

"Have you seen Keima-kun?" She said in a rushed voice.

Shou kept quiet and turned away, leaving Mugi to answer Azusa.

"No, we haven't seen him all day." The pianist cheerfully replied in her usual tone.

Azusa gave the two a long look before she replied. The two were having tea in private, all alone. It didn't take long enough before she made a realization.

"Are you two having a date?" She said in a flat tone.

"No." Shou replied as bluntly as possible, keeping his face away from Azusa.

The guitarist went towards Shou as she was clueless to Shou's sudden behavior.

"Are you hiding something from me?" She went beside Shou, who was still ignoring her.

"None of your business." Mugi kept silent as she was anticipating something big from the conversation.

"You suck. Keima doesn't keep secrets from me." She said in a teasing tone.

That was the final straw. Shou's face changed into a more serious tone as he faced Azusa.

"I'm not Keima." His eyes were obscured by his hair. "If you like Keima so much, then why don't you bother him instead?" He said in a low tone, as if he wasn't the usual Shou.

"Hey! I'm just kidding, no need to-" Azusa caught of his sudden change, and knew that she might have pushed the boy too far.

"What's wrong with you? Getting my hopes up again and again, only to let me down in the end... I..."

Shou glared at Azusa as he stood up. He tried his best to calm himself down, but he was losing control.

"I HATE PEOPLE LIKE YOU!"

Shou breathed heavily as he realized what he just did. Azusa froze as she was shocked with Shou's reaction. Forcing a weak smile, she replied.

"I..I'm sorry.."

Shou's eyes widened as he watched Azusa trembling before him. There was a part of him that was glad that was off his chest, but another part of him thought that he went too far as well.

"No, Azusa that was.." He was at a loss of words.

"I never knew you hated me that much..." Azusa began to shift in her place. Her teary eyes met Shou as she did her best to remain composed.

"I'm sorry.."

* * *

"Huh?"

Keima glanced back at Mio as they both stood on the view deck of a hill overlooking the city. There was something wrong with her, which was obvious in her actions. Mio avoided looking at him, as though she was hiding something.

"Hey, are you alright? You're acting strange..."

"I think we should stop." The boy froze as he heard those words. The most unexpected of the unexpected has happened.

Keima laughed. "Stop? What do you mean?" Keima kept his smile, hoping that she was kidding. She had to be kidding.

"I think we should stop seeing each other." She kept her face down as the tension in her voice was very much evident in her way of speaking.

Keima's face grew pale. Did something happen that morning? Was it something he did? He desperately searched for an explanation for the girl's actions, but to no avail.

"What? Why?" Keima blurted out. He had to do something. Anything. He wouldn't go down without a fight.

Mio shook her head and kept her distance from Keima. Keima clenched his teeth as he took a step towards Mio.

"Get away!" The bassist screamed as she neared the stairs.

"I will not!" Keima replied. "Not until I find out why we shouldn't see each other anymore!"

"You don't need to know it.." Mio said weakly as she hurriedly began to descend the stairs.

"Hey! Wait!" Keima said as he rushed to catch up with Mio. In his haste, he lost his footing as he went down the flight of stairs, making him stumble down. The view deck was quite muddy, as it just rained the morning earlier.

Mio was already halway to the road when she heard Keima as he fell down. Shouting out a few expletives, he fell down to the ground as soon as he tried to stand up.

"Dammit!" He screamed as he struggled to just stand up.

"Just forget about me, alright?" Mio said as she stood a few meters away from the injured boy.

"I... I can't do that." Keima said as he leaned onto the stairs' railing. "I'd rather walk home with this foot than do that."

Mio took a deep breath as he prepared to speak.

"This is goodbye, Hagane-san."

Keima kept silent. All he could do then was to slowly sit down on the stairs as he dwelled on those words that Mio just said. Seeing that Keima was beginning to understand and accept what she wanted to say, she quickly turned and made her way towards the road.

A few meters into the road, Mio stopped and began to sob. It seems that her words hurt her more than it hurt Keima. She raised her crying face to the sky, and glanced at the first few shooting stars of the meteor shower streak across the sky. Back at the view deck, Keima stared blankly into the same night sky.

* * *

In the next chapter:

What happened between Mio and Azusa that morning? Also, Keima and Shou do some damage control along with an unexpected new friend.


	15. Chapter 15: Aftermath

What's up guys?

Its been a long time since I've written for this fanfic, things have become exciting for my life over the past few months.

One thing is I've been exiled to the far away nothern lands in my country. It sucks being so far away from home. Good thing I managed to get myself a laptop, which is way more convenient than my older desktop. At least now I get to write anywhere I want to.

Well one thing is I read every single comment and review of the story, and I did realize that the school they had was an all girl's school. Thanks for pointing that out, I'm still thinking of a way to get around that error.

Anyway, I bet you guys have been waiting so long for the story's continuation. I hope the wisdom I earned these past few months work for the betterment of the fanfic.

Chapter

The sound of Shou's footsteps echoed as he dashed through the asphalt road leading to the nearby hill observation deck. The words he said to Azusa was still ringing in his mind. The rhythm of his footsteps made a quick, continuous beat in the calm silence of the night. As he made his way up the hill, the fast pace of the boy gradually slowed down, until it ground to a halt.

Shou stopped to gasp for breath as he looked around. It seemed his blind running eventually brought him to the hill's view post.

"Dammit!" Shou exclaimed as he slammed his fist onto the building's concrete wall. An intense feeling of regret overcame him. Once again, he opened his mouth without thinking. He should have kept his anger in check. Though at the back of his mind, he felt relieved that he said what he said.

His train of thought was interrupted by a familiar voice that came from the nearby flight of stairs.

"Bad day, huh?" Keima said as he sat down beside the railing. Shou stared at him as the archer continued to rub his injured foot. He knew Keima was supposed to have plans with Mio that night. And seeing how pathetic Keima looked at that moment, he knew something bad happened.

"I hate shooting stars." Shou sighed. Keima glanced as Shou approached him. "They're unlucky." Keima laughed cynically as he motioned his friend to help him up. "No, we're the unlucky ones." Shou smiled as he helped his friend up.

Mio struggled in her bed as she tried to sleep. She was restless. Her mind was as chaotic as the sea of blankets that she was entangled in. Letting out a sigh of frustration, she turned in her bed once again and noticed that she was facing her bass guitar on a stand, and even in the room only lit by a dim light that she usually leaves on through the night, it stood out very vividly. And what stood out more for her was the black guitar strap on it. And it reminded her of someone.

Suddenly then, the night became a bit colder for Mio.

"So, do you have someone you like?" Azusa suddenly jolted up as she heard those words. And what was more surprising for her was that it came from Mio, the girl who had that someone that she liked. "W-why would you ask? Haha.." she said in a nervous tone. She wondered if Mio knew that she likes Keima. She must have some idea, right?

Mio was like an older sister to Azusa. Some also say that they even look alike, pretty much like real sisters. Whenever she would have some trouble, she would always consult and look to Mio for advice. This time though, she couldn't rely on her for advice.

"You see, there's a meteor shower later this evening." Mio said as she leaned back in one of the chairs in the music room. "They said that if you can wish for something when you see a falling star." For some reason, Azusa was beginning to become a bit irritated. "How can I wish for something that I can't have?" She said in her mind, while keeping her smiling facade. Mio then glanced at her. "You should try and wish too, who knows, you might just find the one you like."

And this was the breaking point for Azusa. There's no way that she wouldn't know about Keima and her. Is she always this ignorant? Or does she do this just to gloat over her? Azusa's paranoia slowly took over her, and as she slowly began to lose control, her mouth opened.

"I already have, but..." She glanced at Mio with a hurt look on her face. "...I can't have him." Mio's eyes widened at her sudden change of mood. "Eh? Why is that? Is he-"

"ITS BECAUSE I LIKE KEIMA, ALRIGHT?" Azusa abruptly shouted. Mio was suddenly silenced as she watched her junior become something that she hasn't seen before. "I always have. I watched him walk through the school when he first got here, I also know when he hangs out on the rooftop after classes. I also know..." and Azusa's words trailed off into indistinguishable murmurs. "I was supposed to talk to him, you know? I worked up all the courage to talk to him.. then it happened."

"He saw you." Azusa said as she tried to keep a straight face. "He saw you practicing alone in the music room... and as the two of you began to meet each other more and more, I knew that I could never have him." Mio was at a loss of words as she tried to say something – anything that would clear the air of tension.

"I saw him first, you know? He was supposed to be mine, but he saw you first before me, so..." Azusa cleared her throat as she pushed herself away from the table.

"You better be damn worth his time." She said as she exited the door.

Azusa's mind went over and over again at the things that had happened the entire day. She wasn't supposed to go overboard with Mio earlier, but part of her was relieved that she had gotten that out of her chest. What bothered her the most was her quarrel with Shou. That struck her hard. With a sigh, she leaned back on her bed as she continued to let her mind wander about. And before she knew it, she already fell asleep.

Azusa was startled by the loud ringing of her phone. The annoying high-pitched beeps of her phone prompted her to hastily answer the caller.

"Hey, do you know what time it is? Its not even funny to-"

She snapped out of her drowsiness-induced rage as her eyes widened of the news she recieved.

"What do you mean ran away?"

Ritsu was on the other line, sounding almost hysterical.

"My brother, I think he ran away! I saw a note in his room as I tried to wake him up for breakfast... " The drummer paused as Azusa slowly sat up in her bed. "If anything happens to him I.. I.."

"Don't worry, Ritsu sempai, we'll get to the bottom of this. Lets meet up there in a few minutes. I'll let everyone know." Azusa said as she ended the call. As she began to SMS everyone to meet up at Ristu's house, she stopped as she saw Mio's number. Letting out a sigh, she sent the message, although feeling a bit awkward.

"I can't believe we're doing this."

"Shut up. You'll thank me later."

"Don't worry, Keima – sempai, we've got enough money and supplies to last us weeks."

"Well, you two better be damn sure about this." Keima said as he tugged on the harness of his backpack.

Shou sighed as he counted the money in his wallet. "Always the pessimistic one. Lighten up, bro. Besides.." He glanced at a new face who stood beside him. "...we've made ourselves a new friend to share with our miseries."

Ritsu's brother nodded as he lifted his backpack. "Yeah, to our miseries."

"Very well then. Gentlemen, lets begin our journey!" Shou said as he pointed down towards the road.

"To our journey, and the answers that we seek!"

Keima sighed as he watched the two other boys happily make their way down the road. He had second thoughts about this trip, as they'll pretty much get their asses kicked by disappearing without notice, not to mention what they were about to do was a bit cliche-ish. And if there was one thing that living alone taught him, it was that running away won't change or solve anything.

"This isn't running away." He said to himself. "Whatever it is, I hope I get the answer I need."

And with a deep breath, he took the first step of their Soul-searching journey,


End file.
